Children
At Proudmans, we advise and represent parents, family members and young people across all areas of children law. These cases are often highly sensitive and emotionally complex, requiring not only technical excellence but careful, strategic handling. Our focus is always on securing outcomes that prioritise the child’s welfare while protecting our clients’ position.
Our Values
Our work in this field is distinguished by its depth and impact. Led by highly acclaimed barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman, our team has appeared in over 70 published judgments, a body of work that places us among the most, if not the most, experienced and widely cited practitioners in children law. Many of these cases are landmark decisions which have shaped the development of the law, particularly in relation to domestic abuse and the protection of women and children.
Our approach
We are specialists in complex fact-finding hearings involving allegations of domestic abuse, coercive control and sexual violence. Our approach ensures that cases are prepared thoroughly, evidence is rigorously tested, and our clients are properly supported throughout the process. Our work extends across a number of significant High Court and appellate decisions, including successful appeals correcting failures to properly assess domestic abuse, ensure participation measures for vulnerable parties, and apply the correct legal framework in children cases. Through this body of work, we have contributed to a measurable shift in how allegations of abuse are evidenced and determined.
Impact and landmark cases
Our casework has been at the forefront of legal change. We have been involved in seminal authorities including Re H-N and Others (Children) (Domestic Abuse: Fact-Finding Hearings), which confirmed that coercive and controlling behaviour is an insidious and coercive form of abuse. In Re B-B, the court recognised gaslighting as a form of domestic abuse, marking a significant development in how psychological harm is understood within family proceedings.
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We have also acted in Griffiths v Tickle, a leading Court of Appeal authority on transparency in family proceedings in which Dr Proudman represented former Member of Parliament Kate Kniveton. It was a highly case involving findings of rape and abuse which attracted significant media attention. Our work in Re P (Service on Parent in a Refuge) before the President of the Family Division established critical safeguards to protect the location and safety of women in refuges and included the first judicial recognition of “intersectionality” in this context. In Re GB, the court addressed the misuse of “parental alienation” arguments and provided the first legal definition of DARVO (deny, attack and reverse victim and offender), a concept now increasingly recognised in domestic abuse litigation.
