Allison Quinlan is a Paralegal and Trauma-Informed Practice Lead at Proudmans. She works closely with the team on complex family law matters involving domestic abuse, sexual violence, coercive and controlling behaviour, and child abuse. Allison plays a central role in ensuring that the firm's practice remains grounded in the latest research on trauma, victimisation and the experiences of survivors, helping to deliver compassionate, evidence-based representation.

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Alongside her legal work, Allison is a fully funded PhD candidate in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh, where her research examines support service provision for survivors of intimate partner violence. Her master's degree at the University of Cambridge also focused on trauma-informed responses to survivors of abuse and violence.

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Prior to joining Proudmans Law, Allison managed Right to Equality, a nonprofit organisation founded by Dr Charlotte Proudman dedicated to improving the law for survivors of abuse, violence against women and girls, children and other marginalised groups. She contributed to numerous successful law reform campaigns, including the repeal of the presumption of parental involvement in the family courts, proposals for a standalone offence of spiking, the development of a statutory definition of honour-based abuse, reforms to parental responsibility where child sexual abuse has occurred, increased transparency within the family courts, and measures to address victim blaming and improve trauma-informed practice across the justice system.

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Allison has published extensively on family justice, sexual violence and survivor experiences in leading academic journals and legal publications. She is the co-author of Scratching the Surface: Evidence of Victim Blaming in Family Court and has presented her research internationally, including at the University of Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley.

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At Proudmans, Allison combines academic expertise with practical experience to ensure the firm's work is informed by research, shaped by lived experience, and centred on dignity, safety and justice.

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Find Allison’s recent research here:

 

Hayton, L., Quinlan, A., and Sayer, H. (2026). Scratching the Surface: Evidence of Victim Blaming in Family Court. Right to Equality. Available at https://righttoequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/R2E-Scratching-the-Surface.pdf 

 

Quinlan, A. (2026). Pilot analysis of Right to Equality’s ‘Family Court Blog’. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 1-18.

 

Quinlan, A. R. (2025). Heteronormativity as a barrier to support service access for LGBTQ+ survivors. International Review of Victimology, 02697580251398857.

 

Hayton, L., Quinlan, A., Barnett, A., Proudman, C., & Dalgarno, A. (2025) 'Child Sexual Abuse and Family Court Proceedings', Family Law, 41-50. Available at: https://www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_comment/child-sexual-abuse-family-court-proceedings

 

Quinlan, A. R. (2024). Sexual violence and family courts in England and Wales. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 46(4), 556-581.

 

Barnett, A., Proudman, C., Haroon, S., & Quinlan, A. (2024). Ending the presumption of contact in family courts. Right to Equality. Available at: https://righttoequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Presumption-of-Contact-Report-14-May-2024-.pdf