Family Law Team

Aysen Soyer

Aysen Soyer qualified as a solicitor with Pegden & Dubow in 1996. She joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in January 2000 and was made a partner in 2005, and is head of the Family Department.

Aysen specialises in family and child law. Her practice covers all aspects of family work, including divorce and financial settlement, domestic violence and injunctions, and public and private law Children Act work. She has also dealt with adoption and international child abduction, and has been instructed by the Official Solicitor. She is a member of the Law Society's Advanced Family Law Panel.

Deborah Piccos

Deborah Piccos trained with Joy Merriam & Co and qualified as a solicitor in 2001, joining Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2002. She was made a partner in 2010. She specialises in family law and is particularly interested in children work including care, child abduction, residence and contact matters, as well as injunction work. Deborah undertakes a large proportion of her own advocacy and is a member of the Edmonton County Court Committee, which aims to improve the local court service.

Deborah is a member of LAGLA and regularly acts for lesbian and gay clients in all aspects of children and family law. She is an experienced advocate and holds rights of audience in the higher civil courts. She appears regularly in care proceedings, including complex international child abduction and committal cases. Deborah is a member of the Law Society Children Panel.

Patricia Beckett

Patricia Beckett joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in 1998 and qualified as a Family solicitor in 2002. She was made a partner in 2010. She specialises in Children and Family law, and her areas of work include private law children work, public law children work for parents, divorce/dissolutions and ancillary relief, and Family Law injunctions, as well as cohabitation law.

She has a particular interest in Children Act work, especially representing parents in care proceedings. Patricia has a lot of experience in representing clients with mental health conditions. She also has experience in representing and assisting grandparents in obtaining contact with, residence or special guardianship of their grandchildren. Patricia enjoys ancillary relief work and has experience in cases involving substantial assets.

Patricia has been a member of the Law Society Family Law Panel since 2005. Patricia is also a member of the Law Society Advanced Family Panel in the areas of Private Law Children & Violence in the Home. Patricia is a member of the Association of Lawyers for Children. She has undertaken voluntary work at the local Citizen's Advice Bureau and regularly attends Court Users Group meetings.

Amna Khaliq

Amna Khaliq joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2001, and qualified as a solicitor in 2005, having trained in children, family and immigration law.

Amna exclusively specialises in family law, and her practice covers divorce, ancillary relief, unmarried family disputes, private and public law children work, and family law injunctions. Amna specialises in acting for parents in care proceedings, residence and contact disputes. Amna has also dealt with international child abduction and represented grandparents in children act proceedings.

Among her recent cases is SS v KS EWHC 1575 Fam (Interlocutory appeal by mother against order for interim contact when there are allegations of domestic violence in contact proceedings). Amna is a member of the Association of Lawyers for Children and of the Law Society Family Law Panel

David Wallace

David Wallace joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2005 and qualified as a solicitor in 2008, having trained in family, children and immigration law. He previously worked for the Family Welfare Association, a national charity helping children and families in need.

He deals with all aspects of family law, and has a particular expertise in cases involving both family and immigration law, for example in residence or contact cases where either a parent or the child does not have immigration status.

Michelle Flynn

Michelle Flynn trained at Kenneth Elliott & Rowe and qualified as a solicitor in 2002 where she joined the Childcare team at IBB Solicitors in Uxbridge. Michelle joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2009 and has been a member of the Law Society's Children Panel since 2007.

Michelle is an experienced childcare specialist and advises on all areas of Children law, including private law disputes between parents, public law care proceedings, placement order proceedings and special guardianship and adoption matters. Michelle regularly represents children and their Guardian's in care proceedings and is also instructed in private law Rule 9.5 appointments. Michelle represents clients at all levels of the family court system and has experience of representing clients with mental health and learning difficulties and has dealt with cases where she has been instructed by the Official Solicitor. Michelle has experience of complex non-accidental injury cases and sexual abuse cases.

Michelle is a member of the Association of Lawyers for Children and NAGALRO.

Lorna Yates

Lorna Yates studied Law at Oxford University, and completed the Legal Practice Course at the University of Northumbria. She joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2006, and qualified as a solicitor in 2009, having trained in Children, Family and Immigration Law. Lorna's practice covers all aspects of family work, including public and private law Children Act work, domestic violence, divorce and financial settlement.

Lorna practises exclusively in family law; however she is also an accredited senior caseworker in Immigration Law. Lorna has extensive experience of family cases where the immigration status of the children or parents has not yet been settled, and is particularly interested in working with asylum seeking families.

Among her cases is LBH (A Local Authority v KJ & Ors) [2007], which considered whether a parent automatically falls foul of the threshold criteria in care proceedings, when the local authority has not provided the support that could be expected in respect of a severely disabled child. 

Andaleeb Khandaker

Andaleeb read Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She joined the firm in 2006 and qualified as a solicitor in 2010, having trained in the areas of children, family and immigration law.

Andaleeb specialises in children and family law. She has a particular interest in working on cases involving child protection issues, and in public and private law cases including issues of residence, contact, special guardianship, child abduction, domestic violence issues and injunction proceedings, as well as divorce and financial matters.

Andaleeb has extensive experience in representing parents in care proceedings and in particular those in need of securing and accessing specialist support services and those with learning difficulties. Andaleeb is also an accredited senior caseworker in immigration law and works with families where the immigration status of a child or parent is not settled.

Ian Whitbread (Legal Executive)

Ian Whitbread joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in 1996 and qualified as a Legal Executive in 2010. He trained in criminal, children and family law. Ian now practices exclusively in children and family law dealing with all aspects including divorce and ancillary relief, Family Law Act proceedings and Children Act proceedings. He represents parents in both public law and private law children work. Ian has particular expertise in private law Children Act proceedings concerning issues of residence and contact as well as cases of special guardianship for extended family members.

Sophia Ismail

Sophia Ismail qualified as  a solicitor in 2006 with Whiskers Solicitors LLP and joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in June 2011.

She has experience in all areas of Family Law, including divorce and ancillary relief, cohabitation, separation issues and private children law matters involving, contact disputes, injunctions and child abduction. Sophia is also a trained collaborative lawyer, an alternative to traditional litigation.

Her main area of practise is in public law care proceedings, she has a varied case load  and enjoys  acting for young parents or where there is an international or immigration element to the case. Where possible Sophia conducts her own advocacy.

Sarah Colley

Sarah studied Law at Sheffield University and gained a Distinction on the Legal Practice Course at the University of Westminster. She joined Wilson Solicitors LLP in 2008, and qualified as a solicitor in 2011, having trained in immigration, children and family law.

Sarah now practises exclusively in family law and has experience in all areas including divorce and ancillary relief, public law proceedings, residence, contact, injunction proceedings and child abduction. Where possible, Sarah conducts her own advocacy.

Sarah was involved in the case of Re H and L [2010], which considered the issues of acquiescence and settlement in child abduction cases.

Mark Gilmartin

Mark read law at the University of Surrey and was subsequently called to the Bar in 2008. He joined Wilson Solicitors LLP as a caseworker in 2008 and cross-qualified as a solicitor in 2012 after training in the areas of Children, Family and Immigration Law.

Mark now specialises exclusively in Children and Family law. He has experience in all areas, including divorce, complex matrimonial finance proceedings, cohabitation law, private law children matters involving contact and residence disputes and public law care proceedings. He has experience of drafting pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements & separation agreements. He also has a particular interest in representing victims of domestic violence and parents in care proceedings.

Mark undertakes the majority of his own advocacy and has a range of experience of representing clients at all types of court hearings.