Susan intends to talk about "The voice of the child in family proceedings", a topic which has received recent attention from the President of the Family Division in this year's Lionel Cohen Lecture and from the Family Justice Council. She will briefly consider the ways in which the voice of the child is conveyed to and considered by courts in private and public law cases and offer some thoughts on the effectiveness and limitations of current practice.  She will consider, in particular, the case of Re W [2008] EWCA Civ 538, where the Court of Appeal looked at the practice of judges meeting with children in private law cases.

Practising exclusively in child law, Susan is highly regarded for her expertise across all aspects of Children Act proceedings but above all for her work on public law cases and adoption matters. She has extensive specialist experience of care proceedings that involve allegations of physical, sexual or emotional abuse and of the use of inherent jurisdiction and wardship to protect teenagers and in abduction cases.

Her client base includes local authorities, parents and guardians. Susan speaks and writes on her areas of legal speciality, a recent paper being "Child Abduction: Prevention is better than cure".

·         Acting in a number of recent cases where parents are alleged to have induced or fabricated illness in their children.

·         Norfolk County Council v Webster [2006] EWHC 2898 (fam); (2007) 2 FLR 415: Adoption of older children - acting for prospective parents.