Ms Anne Spratling > Chambers of Mark Twomey KC and Alison Easton > London, England > Barrister Profile

Ms Anne Spratling

020 7092 3700 clerks@coramchambers.co.uk

Work Department

Adult and social care, children and international.

Position

A well-respected and highly-accomplished barrister who has specialised in family law since being called to the Bar in 1980, Anne has a special interest in law relating to children. She has in-depth experience in both public and private law Children Act proceedings and adoptions. Her wide-ranging practice includes cases involving mental illness, factitious illness, implacable hostility, alienation and allegations of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and special educational needs.  She sits as a judge in the Special Educational Needs Tribunal.

Career

Anne is regularly instructed by parents, carers, local authorities and children with or without guardians, and Cafcass Legal. She also represents children where the parents are involved in protracted and contentious disputes.

Over the years, Anne has appeared in a variety of cases for a wide cross-section of clients, including:

• Numerous cases involving medical evidence, covering a wide range of areas including Vitamin D deficiency, non-accidental head injury and factitious or invented illness
• Very extensive experience of representing children in private law cases by their R16(4) guardians, many of which feature parents with challenging personalities, who are often in person
• Cases involving allegations of sexual abuse, including many requiring evaluation of the evidence of children
• Cases involving all aspects of the special educational needs of children where her practical and detailed knowledge arising out of 16 years’ experience as a judge in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Tribunal is of great relevance and benefit.

In court her extensive knowledge of procedure gives her gravitas and earns her respect from judges. She is noted for her intellectually rigorous, no-nonsense approach and her skill in adroitly overcoming obstacles.

Her clients find her approachable and kindly, and view her as a good person to have on their side. Her early training as a teacher has given her the ability to explain complex matters to them clearly and succinctly. She is a keen fighter who treats everyone equally.

Languages

Italian – basic

Memberships

Family Law Bar Association
Association of Lawyers for Children
Lincolns Inn

Education

BA Hons University of Cambridge 1970
PGCE 1971
Bar finals 1980