We take great pleasure in announcing that Julien Foster, Emily Verity and Lucy Sprinz have qualified as arbitrators for children matters.

Julien Foster 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, cases with an international dimension and judicial review, particularly involving Local Authorities' duties towards children and vulnerable adults. His practice encompasses civil law disputes with a family dimension, including negligence actions against Local Authorities.

Emily Verity's private children practice involves a wide range of cases involving disputed child arrangements: from change of name or school, to complex fact findings where allegations of sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse and/or mental health issues arise. She is particularly interested in cases concerning intractable hostility and parental alienation. Emily often undertakes cases on behalf of the Rule 16.4 Guardian, reflecting the 'voice of the child'. She is also instructed in applications involving temporary or permanent removal from England and Wales, or internal relocation, both on behalf of the parent seeking to move and the parent resisting the move. Emily has experience of child abduction work (where a parent has unlawfully removed a child from England and Wales or retained them in another jurisdiction), in particular relating to Pakistan. 

Lucy Sprinz specialises exclusively in children law, in the public and private law fields. In the public law arena she is instructed on behalf of parents, Local Authorities and children and frequently appears in cases involving serious allegations of domestic violence, non-accidental injury, children with complex needs and more recently the radicalisation of children. In the private law field, she has extensive experience of complex child arrangements disputes and is regularly instructed in intractable cases, as well as having experience acting on behalf of the child and in cases involving alternative families.

To learn more about arbitration at 1GC Family Law visit our arbitration page or contact our Dispute Resolution Clerk Francesca Paveley or our clerking team via clerks@1gc.com.