Malvika is a family law practitioner, specialising in public and private children law.
Malvika regularly acts in cases of a level of complexity beyond her year of call. She prides herself on her approachable manner and her ability to put even the most vulnerable and anxious clients at ease.
Malvika has co-authored a book entitled ‘A Practical Guide to Practice Direction 12J and Domestic Abuse in Private Law Children Proceedings’. She has undertaken the Family Law Bar Association's 'Advocacy and the Vulnerable' training.
Year of call: 2017
Within her public law children practice, Malvika represents local authorities, parents, relatives and children. She has appeared up to High Court level and her caseload spans a range of complex issues, including non-accidental injuries suffered by children.
Malvika has a busy private law children practice, acting for both parents and children. She regularly handles complex fact-finding hearings concerning allegations of serious domestic abuse.
Malvika's areas of interest include:
Allegations of domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour, emotional abuse and sexual abuse; The internal and international relocation of children; Forced marriage (Malvika recently appeared in the reported case of K (Forced Marriage Protection Orders; Abuse of Process) [2021] EWFC 94); Intractable contact disputes; Non-accidental injuries to children; Transparency in the family courts.Alongside her practice, Malvika is very active in the wider legal community. She sits on chambers’ Equality, Diversity and Wellbeing Committee and she is chambers' representative within the West Midlands Family Law Bar Association. She is a founding member of Women in Family Law and is co-lead of their Wellbeing sub-committee.
Malvika regularly takes on pro bono cases; she is a panel member at Advocate (formerly The Bar Pro Bono Unit) and was nominated for Young Pro Bono Barrister of the Year in the Bar Pro Bono Awards 2020. She is also part of the Legal Reference Panel for the Centre for Women's Justice and she volunteers with Birmingham City University's Law Clinic.
Malvika is part of the core group of The Transparency Project, a charity which explains and discusses family law cases in England and Wales with the aim of demystifying the family justice system.
Malvika co-hosts a popular family law podcast entitled ‘Professionally Embarrassing’ which was shortlisted for 'Family Law Commentator of the Year' in the LexisNexis Family Law Awards in 2021 and 2022.
In 2022, Malvika was awarded a Pegasus Scholarship by The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. The Pegasus Scholarship Scheme makes it possible for talented young lawyers to learn about the workings of a different legal system and to form long-lasting relationships with lawyers in another country. Malvika spent 7 weeks in New Delhi as a Pegasus Scholar.
Resolution
Family Law Bar Association
The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
Young Legal Aid Lawyers
London School of Economics and Political Science, LLB Law (First Class Honours)
Sciences Po Paris, Campus de Menton (Exchange Programme)
Nottingham Trent University, LLM BPTC (Very Competent in BPTC; Distinction in LLM)