Emily Reed > Park Square Barristers > Leeds, England > Barrister Profile

Emily Reed

0113 2459763

Work Department

Children Law, Family Finance and Court of Protection & Adult Care

Position

Children Law

Emily Reed has a busy children law practice, covering the whole range of proceedings in private and public children law as well as Family Law Act injunctions.

Emily appears regularly in the full range of hearings, including finding-of-fact hearings, final hearings and appeals, and has experience dealing with expert and vulnerable witnesses.

She has dealt with complex matters including leave to oppose adoption orders, international jurisdictional issues arising in care proceedings, and complex issues surrounding parental alienation in private children proceedings.

Emily’s sensitive approach in conference and negotiations has led to successful outcomes when representing parents in public and private law proceedings, including those involving issues of neglect, drug abuse, and physical and sexual abuse.

In public law proceedings, Emily regularly represents a range of local authorities as well as acting for parents, the child and interveners. She is adept at dealing with instructions on short notice. She is known for her detailed and compelling written advocacy, and has prepared skeleton arguments dealing with leave to oppose adoption orders and with respect to international jurisdictional issues.

Emily has acted for local authorities and respondents in cases involving sexual abuse, physical abuse (including non-accidental injuries and shaking injuries), parents with mental health issues, issues of mental capacity and immigration issues. Due to her expertise in Court of Protection proceedings, Emily is particularly adept at dealing with cases in which issues of mental capacity and mental health and/or learning disability/difficulties arise.

Emily also has a busy private children law practice, and has a strong track record for achieving good results for parents in Child Arrangement Order proceedings. She is known for her sensitive client care, ability to handle negotiations with skill and tact, and for her robust approach in court.

She has experience in dealing with cases with an international element, including applications for leave to remove a child/children from the jurisdiction. She has successfully represented clients where there have been attempts to frustrate the time spent with a child or children. In a recent case, Emily successfully represented a father in a complex matter, in which she was instrumental in the pleading and presentation of the father’s case, which resulted in findings of parental alienation being made against the mother and the children’s residence being transferred to the father during the proceedings.

Family Finance

Emily Reed has a developing family finance practice, including financial remedies and Trusts of Land Act 1996 (TLATA) applications. She appears regularly in the full range of hearings, including financial dispute resolution hearings and final hearings.

She has an in depth knowledge of trusts law, which assists with dealing with the complex ToLATA issues that often arise in financial remedies proceedings. From her practice she has also developed a good working knowledge of the benefits system, and is skilled in advising in matters where parties are on low incomes.

Emily is known for her detailed and persuasive written and oral advocacy. Emily is an approachable but tenacious advocate and negotiator, and has a strong track record at achieving good results for her clients in financial remedy proceedings.

Court of Protection & Adult Care

Emily has a particular interest in this field and has built up a busy Court of Protection practice.

Emily appears regularly in cases involving welfare and finance decisions and authorisations and reviews of deprivations of liberty (DoL), including reviews under s.21A Mental Capacity Act 2005.

She is frequently instructed by local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and the Official Solicitor in health and welfare cases, dealing with issues as diverse and complex as the removal of pubic and underarm harm in accordance with religious practice to capacity to consent to sexual relations.

Emily acted as junior to Natalia Perrett in a complex case involving DoLs in respect of protected parties residing in children’s homes and residential special schools. She assisted in the preparation of legal submissions within the Re X and others (Deprivation of Liberty) [2014] EWCOP 25 litigation, in which Sir James Munby P (as he was then) conducted a review of the processes by which the Court of Protection authorises and reviews DoLs in the wake of the Cheshire West decision.

Career

Call 2013

Memberships

Family Law Bar Association
North Eastern Circuit

Education

2011
Selwyn College, Cambridge University, BA (Hons) English (Double First)

2012
BPP Law School, Leeds, GDL (Distinction)

2013
BPP Law School, Leeds, BPTC (Outstanding)

2014
Selwyn College, Cambridge, MA