Family Law

Julien practises across three main areas: public law, private law children cases and Court of Protection cases. His areas of expertise and specialisation include care proceedings, wardship, and international child abduction. His practice also encompasses civil and administrative law disputes in the family context. Among his strengths, he would include the ability to strike up a rapport quickly with lay clients and to press witnesses firmly but sensitively in emotive cases.

He has extensive experience of care proceedings (acting for local authorities, parents, members of the extended family and children) and has appeared in many sensitive and factually complex disputes. He also represents clients in public law areas arising from family disputes including inquests, child protection and local authorities’ duties towards children and vulnerable adults.

Julien has a particular interest in publicity and reporting in the context of family proceedings. He has acted for the father of the child known as "Baby P" in a number of different cases including civil proceedings brought, unusually, on an anonymised basis, and in proceedings in the Family Division when reporting restrictions were imposed.

Julien is also regularly instructed by parents in private law children cases and by local authorities and interested adults in the Court of Protection. He also believes strongly in dispute resolution by mediation and is a former Chairman of Tower Hamlets Mediation Service. He accepts Public Access instructions.

Hilary Woodward is an Associate of the Cardiff School of Law and Politics. She practised for many years as a family solicitor and mediator and has extensive experience of empirical research into family law, most recently on financial remedy and pension orders on divorce.