Dillon heads law firm’s new division for child cases

Katie Dillon

Hall Brown Family Law has announced that it is to launch a new division following a rise in the number of complex cases involving children.

The company based in Manchester has described the move as “a logical response” to a demand for help in resolving parental disputes, especially those spanning different jurisdictions.

The firm’s founding lawyers Sam Hall and James Brown say the volume of such cases had accelerated “dramatically” in recent months.

Hall said that the firm had recruited associate Katie Dillon to lead the new department and was expecting to make further additions before the end of the year.

He said: “The number of these sorts of issues has become a very pronounced part of our work since the start of the year.

“Whilst we already possess the necessary skills to deal with such cases, the frequency of cases which we are being asked to deal with made it sensible to devote very specialist resources to what are incredibly sensitive matters.

“Katie has developed great expertise in supporting families finding themselves in such a predicament over the course of almost a decade and we will be recruiting other individuals to add to our capabilities in the coming months.

“Her talents mean that she is able to deal with the more frequent types of family case as well as this single, very complex strand of casework.

“Nevertheless, we believe that in establishing a specific division, we are making a strong commitment to parents who need assistance should they experience these difficulties.”

Dillon – a member of the family lawyers’ group, Resolution – joins from Stowe Family Law and is the latest solicitor to decide to join Hall Brown from one of the North West’s more established firms after the recruitment of Claire Reid from Slater and Gordon as Senior Associate last month.

She now becomes the 15th fee earner and the 22nd staff member in total for Hall Brown, which only opened its doors in April, 2016.

Hall said that the latest appointment followed analysis of the caseload in Hall Brown’s first year.

He said that as well as notable domestic cases among more than 260 which the firm had handled – including, most recently, its acting for Stacey Giggs in her divorce from Manchester United star Ryan – its lawyers had found themselves dealing with 13 different jurisdictions, across Europe, the Middle East, North America and Africa.

Hall added that he regarded the appointment of Andrew Newbury – a member of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) – as having been influential in Hall Brown’s growing overseas caseload.

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