Sarah Pope
Year of Call: 1994
Education:
BA (Hons) - Law & French
Law Society Finals
Practice Profile:
Sarah practised as a solicitor for 12 years before transferring to the Bar in July 2006. She was a founding partner of Wilkinson Pope, a niche Family Law practice in Islington and was a member of the Law Society Children Panel for 8 years. She obtained Higher Rights of Audience and specialised in representing individuals involved in public law children proceedings.
At the Bar Sarah continues to specialise in Children work, representing parents, children and Local Authorities in public law proceedings and complex and intractable private law disputes.
Sarah has experience of cases involving wide ranging issues including:
sexual abuse
ritual abuse/cultural practices
teenage parents
substance misuse
learning disability
the death of a child
concurrent care and criminal proceedings
press restraint orders
non accidental injury
competent children who are separately represented from their Guardians
transgender parents
forced marriage
Clients have praised Sarah for her robust approach and her "straight talking" manner. A significant proportion of Sarah's work arises through personal recommendation.
Sarah has been recognised as a Leading Family Junior in Chambers and Partners Directory for the last five years, where she has been commended for:
- the "determination and energy" she brings to a case
- the emphasis she places upon client care
- her ability to analyse information well
- her ability to guide the instructing solicitor along the right path
- her "tenacious and thorough" advocacy.
She is also recognised in the 2012 edition of the Legal 500 where she is described as "simply a great barrister".
Sarah is Public Access trained and her previous career as a solicitor makes her particularly well placed to accept instructions from clients direct.
Membership:
Lincoln's Inn
Family Law Barristers Association
Association of Lawyers for Children
British Association for Adoption and Fostering
Specialist Practice Areas:
Family Law - Principally Public Law Children
Mental Capacity - Court of Protection
Notable Cases:
A Local Authority v J [2008] EWHC 1484 (Fam) [2008] 2 FLR 1389 Adoption - Contact - Post-adoption contact with mother or half-siblings - Whether to be ordered
Care - Welfare - Parenting assessment - Whether failure of emotional care and failure to co-operate justified adoption - Whether post-adoption contact with family members to be ordered
London Borough of Enfield V Ms A and 1 Or (2006) [2006] EWHC 1466 (Fam) Fam Div (Sumner J) 20/7/2006 Care Proceedings - Child Protection - Care arrangements for child subjected to physical abuse - approval of Local Authority care plan to place child with maternal relatives outside the jurisdiction
Haringey London Borough Council (2) Hackney London Borough Council V Mrs S & 7 Ors (2006) [2006] EWHC 2001 (Fam) Fam Div (Ryder J) 25/7/2006 Care Proceedings - Child Protection - Children - Non Accidental Injury - Care arrangements for child subjected to assault and wilful neglect - Witchcraft - Ndoki - Kindoki
Languages:
French - fluent
Italian - working knowledge
Further Professional Information:
Trainer in adoption law
Contributor to the Legal Network Television Training Series.
LSC Independent Costs Adjudicator
Practice Group(s):
Private Law Children, Public Law Children, Vulnerable Adults
