Serving THE COMMUNITY

CORAM CHAMBERS IS DEDICATED TO PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY LEGAL SERVICES TO THE LGBT COMMUNITY

Coram Chambers is a leading specialist family law set with strong ties to the LGBT community and in 2012 was ranked in second place in the Black Solicitors’ Network’s diversity league table. We are committed to promoting the rights and interests of our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients, as well as our LGBT barristers and staff.

Members of Chambers have been involved in representing LGBT clients for many years and have acted in some of the leading cases in which the rights of alternative families have been considered. We have practitioners in Chambers that can provide specialist representation and advice on surrogacy, international and domestic adoption, parental responsibility, co-parenting, Civil Partnership agreements, dissolution proceedings, and cohabitation and separation disputes, as well as offering alternative dispute resolution. Members of our human rights team act in cases involving fundamental rights and freedoms protected by the Human Rights Act 1998, with a particular focus on matters arising from family life. For example, in 2013 Deirdre Fottrell acted in the case of Re G in the High Court in which the question of what rights does the donor father retain if two mothers are registered on a child’s birth certificate was considered by the Court for the first time.

We provide training to members of the profession and solicitors on legal and social issues relating to the recognition of the rights of gay and lesbian parents. Members of Chambers contribute regularly to legal journals and blogs on issues of interest to the LGBT community. Katy Rensten and Dermot Casey have participated in specialist training programmes organised for solicitors and other members of the profession.

Our members of Chambers and staff come from a wide range of backgrounds and bring to their work not only their professional expertise, but also their experience and understanding of the needs and expectations of clients from LGBT communities. Many are likewise active in not-forprofit LGBT and related organisations outside of their professional work for Chambers. We pride ourselves on our modern, sensitive, and empathetic approach to non-traditional family arrangements. All members of Chambers and staff receive regular equality and diversity training, and we are consistently recognized as being at the forefront of promoting equal opportunities.

Barristers at Coram are keen to continue and expand their work serving the LGBT community. In addition to the services offered through solicitors, Coram also offers advice and representation directly through the direct access scheme. In such cases a solicitor is not instructed and there is a direct link between client and barrister throughout the case. (Details of this service are on our website.)

Coram Chambers is dedicated to the provision of high quality legal services to the alternative and LGBT communities. We are creative in our representation, seeking to assist our clients to resolve disputes in a timely and pragmatic fashion. At the same time, where it is appropriate we have acted in cases in which the parameters of the protection offered by the law has been challenged and tested. As a result, we are highly regarded within the profession as a leading set in the field of alternative family law.

“We pride ourselves on our modern, sensitive, and empathetic approach to non-traditional family arrangements”