News

Recognised by Legal 500 2016 for their expertise in family & childcare matters, Duncan Lewis are pleased to welcome back to the firm Director of Family & Childcare, Laila Bhunnoo.

Currently recommended by Chambers UK 2016 as a leading lawyer for her family work in London and ranked in the Legal 500 UK Edition for her expertise in childcare matters for the last five years consecutively, Laila worked as a Solicitor – Advocate/Director at Duncan Lewis from 2003 to 2014 and has recently re-joined the firm in October 2016.

Laila specialises in representing parents, children’s guardians and children in all Children Act matters. Her practice covers special guardianship orders, care orders, supervision orders and emergency protection orders, adoption within the UK and overseas, Child Abduction and Forced Marriage Protection Orders and FGM Orders. Her work also concerns same sex relationship issues, which arise specific to alternative families. Further, Laila has significant experience representing vulnerable teenagers, often separately from their Guardian when a conflict has arisen. Although predominantly based from the company’s Shepherd’s Bush office, Laila practices across the company’s West, South and Central London offices in both publicly funded and privately funded matters.

Jason Bruce, Practice Director at Duncan Lewis, commented this appointment: “We are very thrilled to welcome back Laila Bhunnoo to Duncan Lewis. She has been and continues to be a true leader in her field of public law children matters”.

Laila is a member of the Law Society’s Children Panel as a Children Representative as well as an experienced advocate with Higher Rights of Audience, this means she is entitled to represent her clients throughout all proceedings and at all levels of Courts. Further, she was awarded Employer of the Year 2011 and 2016 by the National Mentoring Consortium for her work with the University of Westminster law students.

Duncan Lewis’ London Child Care team now has 45 specialist solicitors/Law Society accredited Children Law Panel Members authorised to act for children in all children public law proceedings. Many of the Duncan Lewis Children Public Law Solicitors also specialise in Children Cross border disputes. Their specialism is illustrative by the fact that Duncan Lewis is one of only a small number of firms in the UK that are on the Lord Chancellor’s Child Abduction & Contact Panel.