Free Hybrid Seminar – Vulnerability Revisited

This seminar will revisit vulnerability with a focus on neurodivergent parents and children, and care-experienced parents. Both client groups are over-represented in care proceedings. The panel will examine their particular vulnerabilities, and how participation needs are frequently overlooked and misunderstood.

NYAS and Birth Companions’ services show that many care-experienced young women and girls face social care assessments – and often infant removal – when they become parents themselves.  Recent research from King’s College London found that women who had been in care as children were 17x more likely to have contact with children’s social care during pregnancy than women without this history.

This seminar aims to provide insight for participants in the family justice system and practical tips on how to effectively support clients and ensure fair and inclusive participation.

Speakers

Amanda Meusz, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Amanda’s practice focuses on representing  vulnerable parties in complex public law children cases and complex high conflict private law cases including disputes in relation to medical treatment and the provision of services for children with disabilities. She is regularly instructed in cases of involving serious NAI, child death, FII and child sexual abuse. Amanda has developed an innovative trauma informed and trauma responsive approach to the representation of vulnerable clients. She regularly provides training to participants in the family justice system on the impact of trauma and how to ensure effective participation. She is committed to providing a trauma responsive approach to survivors of domestic abuse, to members of marginalised communities and to care experienced parents. Amanda is regularly nominated for awards she  won Family Law Case of the Year at the Family Law Awards 2022. She acted for the children’s guardian in the Supreme Court case of H-W (Children) (No 2) [2022] UKSC 17. Amanda won a award for  Mentor of the Year in Women and Diversity in Law Awards 2026. Amanda is a champion and mentor for Lawyers Who Care, the UK’s first mentoring organisation for care-experienced aspiring lawyers.

Alia Lewis, Partner, TV Edwards 
Alia Lewis is a partner, head of public children law at TV Edwards and has established their Neurodiversity Aware family law team. She is also a Chambers UK ranked DEI Champion, who specialises in representing neurodivergent children and adults in complex child protection cases and is committed to upholding the rights of neurodivergent individuals within family proceedings. Alia’s interest in this area stems from her lived experience as mum to her autistic son. Alongside her casework, Alia aims to reform the family justice system via FLANC (Family Law Advice for the Neurodivergent Community), a multi award winning cross firm working group, of which Alia is a co-founding member. FLANC is dedicated to ensuring that the neurodivergent community has equal access to justice by addressing barriers to participation in family proceedings and dispute resolution. In 2023, Alia won legal aid lawyer of the year for children’s rights in recognition of this work.

Kathy Evans, Director of Policy and Influencing, National Youth Advocacy Service
Kathy Evans was appointed as NYAS Director of Policy and Influencing in March 2025, and is part of the charity’s senior management team, leading on, and supporting NYAS relationships with government, efforts to influence better policy and practice, and campaign for systems change with and for children and young people. Kathy is an experienced charity campaigner and policy specialist in the voluntary sector for children and young people, having worked in the sector for over 30 years. For the decade up to early 2024 she was the CEO of Children England, the national charity membership body for children’s voluntary organisations, in which NYAS was a high profile, active member. Her work at Children England included the pioneering youth-led ChildFair State Inquiry, in which young people researched and developed new policies to reform and improve the welfare state, successful campaigning to ban the private sector from child protection social work, and to challenge the ‘market’ approach to children’s services. She was Policy Director for The Children’s Society for a decade, having got into policy work after starting her career as a practitioner with young people in care, and particularly secure care.

Phoebe White, Policy and Influencing Manager, The National Youth Advocacy Service
Phoebe is the Policy and Influencing Manager at NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service), with her role covering all policy, government influencing, campaigning and research work across England and Wales. Her current work includes leading a national inquiry, alongside the charity Birth Companions, into intergenerational cycles of care proceedings across England and Wales. Phoebe’s previous experiences include children’s residential care and specialist education.

Reserve your ticket
In-person tickets are limited by the venue’s capacity. After you have completed the form, we will be back in touch to confirm whether a place is available at the event.

If you have booked an online ticket, we will send joining details to all those who have signed up on the day of the event. If you have not received the link by 2pm on Wednesday 23 September, and it is not in your junk inbox, please email webinars@gclaw.co.uk.