Children Law, Family Finance, and Court of Protection & Adult Care

Call 1999

North Eastern CircuitFamily Law Bar Association

Children Law

Sally Devall has specialised in family law since 1999. She undertakes all types of family work, but specialises in complex and protracted care cases involving infant deaths, serious injury, and sexual and/or physical abuse. She is equally well-versed in acting for local authorities; parents and other family members (particularly grandparents); and for children, which ensures a well-balanced and high level of expertise when it comes to advocacy.

Sally has dealt with a large number of Hague Convention (and non-Hague Convention) removal-from-the-jurisdiction cases and child-abduction cases, both in the context of care cases and in the context of private law cases. She has an extremely good working knowledge of the Brussels Regulations and cross-jurisdiction recognition and enforcement.

She deals with serious and complicated private law matters, including those involving significant allegations of domestic violence, implacable hostility, contact disputes and marriage nullity.

Sally also deals with cases involving forced marriages and ‘honour killings’, and is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to cultural issues arising from family cases.

She has particular expertise in dealing with clients with extreme learning difficulties, mental-health problems, psychological/personality disorders, and/or child/youth clients. This is greatly assisted by Sally’s background in psychology, counselling and child therapy.

Sally has dealt with a number of cases involving same-sex relationships, and is well-versed in the case law relating to the difficulties faced in the family courts by same-sex couples.

Family Finance

Sally has been practising in financial remedies since 1999. She deals frequently and confidently with financial-remedies cases involving high-value assets, complex business structures, family trusts, and assets outside of the jurisdiction. She has experience of both foreign and domestic trusts as well as  providing advice and assistance with the drafting of pre-nuptial agreements and pre- and post-separation agreements. She frequently deals with cases involving multiple parties and interveners and cases involving complex issues of conduct.

She practises in all courts and has regularly been instructed in difficult high-net-worth High Court matters.

In addition to financial remedies cases, Sally regularly undertakes cases relating to non-matrimonial finances such as TOLATA applications, cohabitation cases, civil-partnership issues, Inheritance Act claims, and Schedule-1 claims.

Court of Protection & Adult CareSally has a background in psychology and is well-placed to accept instructions in Court of Protection and adult-care work. She accepts instruction and is prepared to act for clients in mental health review tribunals.

She is known for her fresh and empathetic approach to clients and has an expanding practice in the Court of Protection/adult care arena.

Sally is able to advise and assist in all areas of Court of Protection work, including best interests, deputyship, finances, property, capacity, accommodation, deprivation of liberty, contact, residence, statutory wills, consent to treatment, and consent to marriage and sexual relationships.

1998Keele University 2:1 Dual Honours in Law and Psychology

1999Inns of Court School of Law, BVC ("Very Competent")