Joanna is the firm’s Managing Partner and Head of the Family Department. She is an experienced solicitor and has over 15 years’ experience specialising in family law. Joanna regularly advises clients in connection with the full range of issues arising from a relationship breakdown including financial and child care arrangements. She has extensive experience dealing with cases involving both modest assets and those with more complex characteristics including foreign assets, multiple properties, family businesses, farming structures and high value pensions. Joanna has represented many clients leaving a relationship where there has been an element of domestic abuse and recognises the need for pragmatic, sensitive and in some cases urgent action to out in place necessary protections.
Joanna is known for her pragmatic and empathetic yet no nonsense approach. She provides clear and honest advice tailored to each client’s individual circumstances. As a committed member of Resolution, she will always seek to resolve disputes in a constructive and cost effective way and has considerable experience utilising various forms of NCDR. Joanna also has considerable experience in dealing with court proceedings and is a confident advocate when litigation is necessary to protect the best interests of a client.
Alongside her family law work Joanna is the Managing Partner and has responsibility for the firms legal practice and finance and administration. As part of this role she oversees compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations and the ever changing landscape of general legal compliance.
Expertise
- Divorce and civil partnership dissolutions
- Financial arrangements
- Complex finances, including trusts, foreign assets and pensions
- All issues in respect of arrangements for children
- Domestic abuse and emergency injunctions
- Cohabitation issues
- Firm management, including compliance with COLP and COFA requirements and the Money Laundering Regulations.
Recent work
- Divorce involving several properties
Acting for a wife and securing a financial settlement at a private FDR involving the transfer of 3 properties into her name, to include structuring the transfers in a way to minimise tax consequences. - Unequal contributions
A small money case where there were insufficient funds for both parties to purchase properties. An added complication were the vastly unequal contributions made during what had been a short marriage. - Acting for a wife in a financial case where the husband consistently failed to disclose assets
The case involved working with a specialist accountant to ensure all assets were before the court and thus fairly shared. - Divorce and complicated pensions
Acting for a husband in a divorce that involved an overseas pension fund worth in excess of £1.8 million where the fund held properties as part of the investment. - Dealing with a case involving a large family farm and the valuation of agricultural land and buildings.
The case required careful consideration of inheritance tax and liquidity issues. Ultimately reached a negotiated agreement and obtaining a legally binding consent order. - Pre Nuptial Agreements
The preparation of a detailed pre nuptial agreement involving four properties and overseas assets.
Accreditations
- Accredited Resolution member
- All issues Resolution qualified mediator
Personal interests
In her spare time Joanna enjoys keeping fit, good food and wine and spending time with her family.