Family & Divorce, Children Private and Public Law, Court of Protection
Call : 1999
Abigail practises in all aspects of the law relating to children and is Head of the Children Law team. She has considerable experience of care proceedings in which she represents local authorities, parents and children. She handles a wide range of cases, including those involving allegations of inflicted injury and serious sexual abuse. She also undertakes complex private law work: high-conflict residence disputes, ‘intractable contact’ cases, and applications for leave to remove from the jurisdiction.
She is the author of several articles on family law matters and of the well-received Care Proceedings and Learning Disabled Parents: A Handbook for Family Lawyers (Jordans, 2014, 2nd edition). The Foreword, by Mrs Justice Pauffley, describes it as “erudite, concise and immensely readable”. The book arose out of Abigail’s experience in representing learning-disabled parents, where she strives to ensure that her clients are fairly and properly assessed, and given every opportunity to retain the care of their children.
In addition, Abigail represents parties in the Court of Protection, with an emphasis on health and welfare matters.
In 2019 Abigail was appointed as a Fee-paid Judge of the First–tier Tribunal (Health Education and Social Care Chamber), ticketed to the Mental Health Jurisdiction.