© Dawson Cornwell
Dawson Cornwell were delighted to be able to co-sponsor the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation's 2012 True Honour Awards with 7 Bedford Row. The Award Ceremony was held at 7 Bedford Row and among the nominees for the two True Honour Awards for 2012 was Wendy Ramus of Dawson Cornwell nominated for her work in the field of Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriage.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE was pleased to be among the Judges on the selection panel for the True Honour Awards.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE attends a reception held at Buckingham Palace.
Dawson Cornwell celebrated its 40th anniversary with a dinner at the Savile Club on 20th November 2012 attended by the partners and a number of people historically connected with the firm.
Follow the link to Family Law Week and read an article by Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE and Richard Kwan of Dawson Cornwell with Eleri Jones, a barrister at 1 Garden Court, entitled "The 1996 Hague Convention: The Fourth Dimension".
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE and Rhiannon Lewis both attended the 25th LAWASIA Conference in Bali; whose current President is Malathi Das of Singapore, on 18-21 November 2012.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson spoke at the Family Law session on the 1996 Hague Convention on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition, enforcement and cooperation in respect of parental responsibility and measures for the protection of children which came into effect in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2012. The session was chaired by Tiong Liang Yap of Singapore.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson and Rhiannon Lewis also participated as judges at the 7th LAWASIA International Moot Competition 2012 which was won by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Colin Rogerson and Sarah Benhadj were the guests of Square Peg Media amongst over 450 guests at the Stonewall Awards 2012.
The delightful event, which was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum was hosted by Gok Wan who marked the celebration and acknowledgment of gay, lesbian and bisexual television personalities who have had a positive impact, through the media, in promoting equality and diversity.
Beverley Knight, Charlie Condu and Vanessa Feltz were amongst the many personalities who attended to offer their support. Some of the winners, which were chosen by a panel of celebrities, included Sue Perkins, who won the award for entertainer of the year and Ruth Davidson who picked up the award for politician of the year.
Carolina Marín Pedreño quoted in Mail Online article about a recent child abduction case.
On 22 October 2012, the Spanish Association of Family lawyers (AEAFA) published an article written by Carolina Marín Pedreño and Lucy Marks on the effect of cohabitation on spousal maintenance.
John Cornwell and Anne-Marie Hutchinson both won awards at the Family Law Awards 2012 organised by Jordans Publishing Limited.
John Cornwell's award was for his outstanding contribution to the field of family law which had involved the founding of Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association) and his subsequent introduction and development of mediation and co-founding of the Family Mediation Association.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE won her award as International Family Lawyer of the Year.
The award ceremony took place at The Hilton, Park Lane and was attended by over 300 family lawyers.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson and Colin Rogerson both attended and spoke on the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Program at the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association CLE Conference in Philadelphia, USA in October 2012.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson spoke on a panel on how to address the issue of international recognition of parenthood of children born through surrogacy and Colin spoke about the employment leaves of absence available to intended parents following surrogacy arrangements in the United Kingdom and the EU.
The Conference was well attended by Judges and lawyers in assisted reproduction and surrogacy law from across the USA, Canada, England and Israel.
Anne-Marie's conference paper
Colin's conference paper
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Lucy Marks spoke at the Franco-British Lawyers Society conference which took place in Paris on 5 October 2012. The conference dealt with financial remedies on divorce in France and England and was presented by Celine Campi. Lucy spoke about pre-nuptial agreements.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE provides pro-bono support to Reunite who are given leave to intervene in a Hague Convention Case before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.
Following on from Dawson Cornwell's seminar on EU Maintenance Regulations which took place in June 2012, Rhiannon Lewis of Dawson Cornwell co-authored an article with Will Tyzack of QEB entitled "Mapping the Jurisdiction Minefield: Steering Clear of the Traps of EU Maintenance Regulation".
Organised by Jordans Publishing Limited and at which Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBEspoke about the 1996 Hague Convention principles and practice.
Carolina Marín Pedreño spoke at the Annual Conference on European Family Law 2012 in Trier, which focused on cross-border divorce and its consequences. Carolina spoke on the subject "Brussels II bis Regulation: Seven years on and proposals for reform", further to her award winning essay upon the topic last year. Russell Bywater and Olivia Piercy were also in attendance at the conference.
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Dawson Cornwell were delighted to be the official legal partner in this year’s Alternative Parenting Show which took place in the Connaught Rooms near Covent Garden on 15 September 2012. At this year’s show there were in excess of 40 exhibitors and a series of talks and seminars. As in previous years the show’s headline sponsor were The London Women’s Clinic and it was organised by Square Peg Media.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE of Dawson Cornwell chaired a panel of experts in a discussion entitled "International Surrogacy: Passports and Parenting" and chaired a second discussion later in the day entitled "Domestic and International Adoption: Coparenting and Other Means of Acquiring Parental Responsibility".
Colin Rogerson of Dawson Cornwell spoke during a session entitled "Domestic and International Adoption, Co-Parenting and other means of Acquiring Parental Responsibility" on the subject of co-parenting agreements.
Follow the link to Family Law News, the newsletter of the International Bar Association Legal Practice Division for September 2012 and read Carolina Marín Pedreño’s article entitled "Shared residence orders might not be an exception in Spain for much longer".
The fourth LAWASIA Family Law Conference was held in Penang, Malaysia on 13 and 14 July 2012.
Rhiannon Lewis spoke on the topic of Pre-nuptial Agreements. The session was chaired by TL Yap and the other speakers were Associate Professor Debbie Ong of the National University of Singapore and Yumna Mookrey of Miller du Toit Cloete Inc, Capetown.
Russell Bywater spoke at a panel session on The Future of Family Law alongside numerous other family law experts including Rajan Chettiar of Singapore, Catherine Gale of Australia, Foo Yet Ngo of Malaysia, Akiko Sugita of Japan, Winnie Chow of Hong Kong, Rachana Srivastava of India and Sasirusm Chunhakasikam of Thailand.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE spoke at the launch of the JAN Trust Report on the effective prevention of forced marriages within the Pakistani community in the UK on 9 July 2012 in the House of Lords.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE spoke at the Community Care Conference entitled Working with BME and Faith Communities to protect children and young people on Wednesday 4 July 2012. Anne-Marie addressed the conference on the subject of understanding the statutory and practice guidance surrounding the issues of protecting BME and Faith communities and their children and young people.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE comments on the criminalisation of Forced Marriage.
Lucy Marks spoke at the Anglo-Spanish Legal Conference which took place at the Law Society in London on 8th June 2012. The conference was presented by Rosario Génova Alguacil. Lucy spoke about financial provision available for children under Schedule 1 Children Act 1989 and pre-nuptial agreements.
Dawson Cornwell hosted and produced a seminar entitled "A year on - Taking Stock of the EU Maintenance Regulation" at Europe House in London's Smith Square, the new home of the European Parliament and Commission in the UK. The panel was headed and introduced by Lucy Marks of Dawson Cornwell and she was joined by Tim Amos QC of QEB Chambers, Roberta Ceschini a partner at Ceshini Restignol in Rome, Miguel Maldonado Gonzalez a practising lawyer from the Malaga Bar Association, Julie Losson a partner at Villard Cornec in Paris and Roland Krause a Rechtsanwalt and Abogado practising in Germany and Spain.
Discussion focussed on the Council Regulation EC No 4⁄2009 of 18 December 2008 and recognition, jurisdiction, applicable law and enforcement of decisions and inter‐member co‐operation relating to cross‐European maintenance obligations. After the formal discussion those present continued to discuss and network over a selection of European wines.
Video of seminarDawson Cornwell are delighted that Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE has been re-appointed to the Law Society’s International Issues Committee for a further three years term until 31 August 2015.
Dawson Cornwell were delighted to support the inaugural American Bar Association Conference on International Family Law held at the ABA office in Washington, DC on 25 and 26 May 2012. The conference, organized by Melissa Kucinski of Bulman, Dunie, Burke & Feld, was entitled "International Families – Money, Children and Long Term Planning".
Rhiannon Lewis, a committee member, was the program producer and Chair of the session on "Child Support and International Enforcement" with speakers Philippe Lortie, First Secretary Hague Conference on Private International Law, Hannah Roots, Managing Director, British Columbia Family Maintenance Enforcement Program, Meg Campbell-Haynes, Center for the Support of Families and Gary Caswell of Nuñez, Arreola y Asociados, all renowned experts in the field.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE contributed via telephone link and spoke at two sessions; "International Child Relocation, the Washington Declaration" and "Recognition of Foreign Court Orders and Conflicts of Laws".
Dawson Cornwell were also delighted to sponsor the conference reception hosted at the Canadian Embassy.
Conference programme
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Dawson Cornwell hosted a seminar and reception entitled "Stranded Spouses" at the Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, London on 16 May 2012 attended by 150 individuals representing many NGOs, charities, legal publications, the Bar, the Police Force and others involved in this area of the law. Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE chaired the discussion group which included Teertha Gupta QC of 4 Paper Buildings, Mehvish Chaudhry of Renaissance Chambers, Kulbir Randhawa of Asian Family Counselling Service, Heather Harvey of Eaves Housing Trust, Gina Allwood of 7 Bedford Row and Lisette Dupré an assistant solicitor at Dawson Cornwell.
Issues covered included maintenance provision, divorce and financial relief after a foreign decree, no recourse to public funds and housing issues, immigration issues relating to stranded spouses and their children including entry clearance and visas and maintenance provision, child support and failure to maintain.
Seminar invitation
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Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE took part in a discussion group entitled "Human Trafficking and Forced Marriage" at the International Association of Women Judges conference in London on 3 May 2012.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE co-chaired the IBA 5th World Women Lawyers’ Conference held in London on 26 and 27 April 2012.
Read an article by Lucy Marks published in the Family Law Journal comparing the different matrimonial regimes in this country and Russia. The article is written together with Vitaliy Eremin, a partner of Lozange Littoral Groupe, Moscow.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE as chair of the IBA Women Lawyers’ Interest Group at the 5th World Women Lawyers Conference in London attended at the presentation of the IBA Outstanding Woman Lawyer Award 2012 to Chief Olufolake Solanke, Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
The Award was given in recognition of Chief Solanke’s professional excellence and her ongoing contribution to the advancement of women within the legal profession. The announcement was met with rapturous applause and the recipient was encircled by delegates attending the event.
Anne-Marie commented, "I am honoured and excited to be co–chairing the 5th IBA World Women Lawyers’ Conference and to present Chief Solanke with the 2012 IBA Outstanding International Woman Lawyer of the Year Award. Given the high calibre of all the nominees it was a very tough call". She added, "Chief Solanke’s career has been long, industrious, filled with achievement and an inspiration to many. Her unswerving commitment to advancing women in the legal profession is admirable and I wholeheartedly congratulate her on receiving this award".
IBA news release
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Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE was the keynote speaker at a seminar hosted by BPP Law School (Holborn Campus) entitled Forced Marriages: Sufficient Legal Protection? held on Monday 26 March 2012. The panel also included speakers from the Forced Marriage Unit at the Foreign Office, Waltham Forest Local Authority, Reading University and Buckingham University.
Flyer
Carolina Marín Pedreño has been listed as a notable practitioner in the private client section of Chambers Global 2012.
Chambers website
Rhiannon Lewis spoke at the 15th Annual Family Law Conference in Cape Town on 15 March 2012. The conference was presented by Miller du Toit Cloete Inc and the University of the Western Cape. Rhiannon spoke about the financial provision available for the children of non–marital parents from an international perspective.
Programme
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE provides pro–bono support in Supreme Court case ensuring that the Hague Convention is interpreted consistently and that it is applied fairly and effectively.
Press release
As part of the launch preparations for Secrets of the Henna Girl Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE has given an extensive interview to Carl Arrindel for Islam Channel’s In Focus programme. This interview explores in some detail the plight of those subjected to forced marriage and consequential honour based violence and killings from the point of view of someone involved in assisting them. Anne-Marie has been active in preventing many such marriages taking place and ensuring places of safety for the victims, sometimes as young as nine, from countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Interview
Lucy Marks attended the 19th Congress for the Association of Spanish Family Lawyers (AEAFA) in Madrid which took place on 9 and 10 March 2012. The programme covered an analysis of recent developments in Spanish Family Law.
Conference programme
Dawson Cornwell was pleased to co-sponsor the launch of the Secrets of the Henna Girl by Sofiya Ahmed held in the Locarno Suite at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on International Womens’ Day, Thursday 8 March 2012. Dawson Cornwell’s co-sponsors were the Forced Marriage Unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Henna Foundation.
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE spoke at the launch and noted that a book of this kind would help to raise awareness among the general public of the issues of forced marriage and honour based violence and also help to convey to its victims that there are people who can and will help them.
Secrets of the Henna Girl is a powerful and moving novel about the illegal practice of teenage forced marriages.
Press release
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Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE spoke at a seminar hosted by 7 Bedford Row Chambers on Thursday 1 March entitled "Assisted reproduction and surrogacy – a modern approach to parenthood or brave new world?" There were three speakers followed by a panel discussion. Anne-Marie spoke about the international aspects of surrogacy.
Programme
Dawson Cornwell has been given an "Albert" award by the Albert Kennedy Trust in recognition of its work on an international level in defending the human rights of young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people. The award was accepted by Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE at the Alberts ceremony on 23 February 2012. The award was presented to Anne-Marie by the actor Charlie Condou.
The Albert Kennedy Trust is a voluntary organisation which provides support for young LBGT people living in a hostile environment or housing crisis.
Dawson Cornwell is proud to be recognised for its work in this ground-breaking field by the special award from the Albert Kennedy Trust. It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE and her team who work tirelessly in this and other legal areas to help protect the human rights of young people both here and abroad.
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Carolina Marín Pedreño has been awarded a five star rating for her children law practice by the Good Lawyer Guide 2012. These certificates are exclusively awarded to solicitors with five star ratings, which in turn are given only to solicitors who according to research conducted by the Good Lawyer Guide (which incorporates client feedback) offer an outstanding service to clients.
www.goodlawyerguide.co.uk is the fastest growing independent review site for lawyers in England and Wales and is created by the publishers of the Legal 500 series.
Certificate
Read an article by Carolina Marín Pedreño and Lucy Marks published on the Spanish Association of Family Lawyers’ website (AEAFA). The article deals with the Supreme Court decision in the case of Jones v Kernott regarding division of finances in relation to unmarried couples.
Article (please note in Spanish)