Speakers

Dinner Speaker

The Right Honourable Dame Siobhan Keegan, Lady Chief Justice of Northern Ireland

Dame Siobhan Keegan graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 1993. She has been a High Court Judge, served as Vice Chair of the Bar of Northern Ireland, Chair of the Young Bar, Chair of the Family Bar Association, Chair of the Bar Charity Committee and a member of the Bar Professional Conduct Committee. Dame Siobhan was the Judge in Residence at the Queen’s University Belfast and became a Bencher of the Northern Ireland Inn of Court, an Honorary Bencher of Grays Inn and an Honorary Bencher of King’s Inns in 2022. She was a member of the Judicial Studies Board (JSB) and was also the Northern Ireland representative on the Franco-British-Irish Judicial Cooperation Committee. Dame Siobhan has been the Presiding Coroner, the Senior Family Judge in the High Court of Northern Ireland, the designated Northern Ireland judicial member of the International Hague Network of Judges, was a Commissioner in the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission (NIJAC) and is now Chair of NIJAC. Dame Siobhan was made an honorary member of the Society of Legal Scholars. She was sworn in as Lady Chief Justice of Northern Ireland on 2 September 2021. In 2023, Queen’s University Belfast conferred upon her an honorary degree in ‘Doctor of Laws for Distinction in Public Service’.

Conference Speakers (in order of appearance)

Conference Chair

Mrs Justice Frances Judd

High Court Judge since 2019. Family Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit.

Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division

Andrew McFarlane was called to the Bar in 1977 and practiced in chambers in Birmingham until 1993 when he moved to specialist family law chambers in London. He appeared at all levels of court including the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights. He was appointed as a QC in 1998. In April 2005 he was appointed to the High Court, Family Division and was for 5 years the Family Division Liaison Judge for the Midland Circuit. He was the legal member of the Government ‘Family Justice Review’ Panel. In July 2011 he was appointed to be a Lord Justice of Appeal sitting full time in the Court of Appeal. On the 28th July 2018 Sir Andrew succeeded Sir James Munby as President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice.

Together with the late David Hershman he is the co-author of a loose-leaf legal text book entitled “Children: Law and Practice”. In addition, he has contributed to other publications and lectured throughout the UK and abroad.

Sir Andrew has been a trustee of YoungMinds (the national young person’s mental health charity) and is Patron of HOPE Family Centre (Bromyard). In addition to being Chancellor of the Diocese of Exeter, Sir Andrew was Chairman of the Church of England Clergy Discipline Commission and President of Clergy Discipline Tribunals for 5 years until 2019. He has been a native of Herefordshire and Worcestershire for over 35 years.

Dr Gemma Halliwell

CEO, The Green House

Gemma is a mixed-methods researcher with a specialist interest in domestic abuse and sexual violence. Her research is grounded in experience of working frontline within the domestic abuse and sexual violence sector/s and reflects her commitment to survivor-led co-produced services. Gemma led the 'Keeping Secret's' research, which was the catalyst for the Bluestar project and has developed the Bluestar Pre-Trial Therapy training and accreditation programme with Emma Harewood. Gemma is the CEO of the Green House. The Green House is a specialist support service for children, young people and families living in Avon and Somerset who have experienced sexual abuse. The Green House team believe in creative evidence-based support services led by the voices of young people and their families. Their specialist services are designed to grow connection and community with families who have experienced sexual abuse and have a creative arts focus. Research guides everything Gemma does, in understanding the Green House service, developing best practice nationally in the sector and as a platform for amplifying survivors voices.

Emma Harewood

Emma is a Director of the Bluestar Project. She is the co-founder of the Lighthouse service, the first Barnahus (Child House) in the UK supporting children and young people that experience sexual abuse. For the last 15 years she has led change in health, criminal justice, voluntary sector and social care with a focus on integrated services to support children and adults.

Dr Charlotte Edney

Charlotte is an economist at the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. She has a particular interest in using data and evidence to identify inequalities relating to ethnicity, disability, geography, and other characteristics, how they affect people’s experiences of the family court, and how we might address them.

Ms Sam King KC

Sam King KC specialises in Private and Public law children’s work. She has an interest in the law relating to Modern Families and Surrogacy. Sam is the Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the FLBA.

Prof. Andy Bilson

Andy is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at the University of Central Lancashire, adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia. He is co-chair of the Parents Families and Allies Network. He was previously director of the Council of Europe's observatory on children's rights. He has undertaken international research and consultancy on child rights and alternatives to care with many governments and organisations. He currently focusses on child protection trends and policy, and on parent advocacy in child protections.

Dr. David Robinson

David Robinson is a general Paediatrician at Queen’s University Hospital Romford covering >800,000 residents. His textbook ‘Pediatric Forensic Evidence (Springer 2017) is the result of many years experience with children and families in an East London hospital receiving over 1000 children weekly through ED and the analysis of over 500 cases for the Family and Crown Courts. Mainstream opinions, the medical literature and examples from extensive experience on the wards and in Court are discussed. He has a special interest in FII and other complex cases.

Darren Howe KC

Darren Howe KC appears in cases concerning children at all levels of the Family Courts, Family Division and appellant courts. Darren has a particular expertise in representing parties in complex medical cases in which the court has to determine whether a physical injury or medical condition has been caused by physical abuse or has a more innocent explanation.

Thomas Rodwell

Thomas Rodwell is recognised as a leading forensic accountant and business valuation expert. He provides economic and financial advice to clients, legal teams and counsel in commercial and family law disputes. He is regularly appointed as an expert to opine on issues of finance and valuation.

HHJ Stephen Wildblood KC DFJ

Stephen is the Designated Family Judge for the Bristol area. He will be leaving his post in November 2023 and working with Dr Freda Gardner in supporting people to avoid being involved in Family litigation.

Nicholas Allen KC

Barrister and Joint Head of Chambers at 29 Bedford Row (London) specialising in financial remedy work. Door Tenant at St. Ives (Birmingham). IFLA arbitrator and PFDR/ENE tribunal. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2018, a Deputy High Court Judge in 2021, and a Recorder of the Family Court in 2016. Bencher of the Middle Temple. Contributing Editor to The Family Court Practice ('Red Book') and editor of the family law chapters of Foskett on Compromise. Regular lecturer including to the Judicial College. Co-Chair of the Bar Council’s Services Appointment Panel. Member of the Steering Committee of the UK Association of LGBTQ+ Judges.

Stephanie Snow ISW

Stephanie Snow is a Independent social worker specialising in risk assessment in cases of denied child abuse. She is trained in the Resolutions Approach and undertakes assessments across the UK for the family court.

Tina Cook KC

TCKC, 42 Bedford Row, practices in all types of child care. She specialises complex finding of fact cases and difficult disputes.

Beth Tarleton

Beth is a senior lecturer at the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. She has been carrying out research about support for parents with learning difficulties/disabilities for over 17 years and is co-ordinator of the Working Together with Parents Network which provides free support to professionals working with parents with learning disabilities and learning difficulties.

HHJ Edward Hess

His Honour Judge Edward Hess sits as a Circuit Judge at the Central Family Court and is also a Deputy High Court Judge.He is the Lead Judge at the London Financial Remedies Court and the Deputy National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court.He is the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Financial Remedies Journal, co-author of the Dictionary of Financial Remedies and Pensions on Divorce: a Practitioner’s Handbook, and is the author of the Standard Family Orders Handbook (Volume 1 – Financial and Enforcement).

Joe Rainer

Joe is a barrister at QEB, specialising in Financial Remedies. He is an editor of At A Glance (and AAG Cloud) and The Financial Remedies Journal, and is a member of the PAG. He is also a fanatical cyclist and vexatious tweeter.

David Lockett

David Lockett set up Actuaries for Lawyers Ltd. ("AFL") and has been producing expert witness reports, appearing as a witness and talking at seminars on the subject since 2000. He has written five versions of the AFL manual with Paul Windle, been joint author of three editions of "Unlocking Matrimonial Assets on Divorce" and three editions of "Pensions on Divorce: A Practitioner's Handbook".

Claire Moore

Claire Moore is co-founder of Certain Curtain Theatre company. Established in 1989 this professional touring theatre company has been at the forefront of using theatre to raise awareness of domestic abuse and its impact on women and children. Passionate about using theatre to create change, the company has toured across the UK and internationally performing to hundreds of thousands of audiences. They have developed their award-winning work into unique training packages for professionals to increase understanding and improve work practice.

Claire is actively involved in domestic abuse campaigns and organises the ‘Dead Women Walking’ march each year to remember the women killed in the UK by known men.

Mr Justice Peel

Robert Peel was born in Singapore, and brought up partly in Africa and partly in England. He was called to the Bar in 1990, took silk in 2010, became a Recorder in 2010, a Deputy High Court Judge in 2016 and was appointed to the High Court Bench (Family Division) in October 2020. Whilst at the Bar, he was a general common lawyer at 29 Bedford Row before specialising in financial remedies work. In April 2022 he was appointed National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court, and Judge in charge of Standard Orders. He is a Bencher of Middle Temple.

Elizabeth Darlington

Elizabeth is a barrister at 1GC | Family Law, having practised for over 20 years from chambers in Yorkshire. She is also an arbitrator, mediator and FDR evaluator. Her practice focuses on the financial consequences of relationship breakdown and property disputes between family members. Elizabeth is the author of a number of highly regarded practitioner texts including Cohabitation and Trusts of Land. The fourth edition, published by Sweet and Maxwell, is due out in 2023. Elizabeth was elected to the Family Law Bar Association national committee in 2021 and sits on its Finance and Property Sub-Committee.

Samantha Hillas KC

Sam Hillas KC is a financial remedy silk at St Johns Buildings based in Liverpool, an Inner Temple Bencher, Attorney General of the Northern Circuit, an FLBA committee member and on the Financial Remedies Journal editorial team. She is a member of the group of practitioners and judges headed by His Honour Stuart Farquhar reporting to the President of the Family Division about aspects of financial remedies practice, including transparency. Sam’s practice takes her up and down the country appearing before courts at all levels and she is well known for her lectures, seminars and podcasts on both financial remedy work and legal practice generally. She is a qualified arbitrator and regularly acts as a private FDR evaluator. Aside from her financial remedy practice, Sam is a Patron of Wirral Women’s and Children’s Aid and sits as a judicial chair for disciplinary offences arising out of RFU, World Rugby, Six Nations and European Professional Club/Rugby Europe games.