Alison Leivesley is an experienced consultant solicitor with a distinguished national reputation. She specialises in all aspects of the law relating to children. She has a particular interest in domestic abuse, forced marriage, so called ‘honour’ based violence, international or abduction cases and female genital mutilation (FGM).

Previously she has been head of family at two of the biggest and most highly regarded family law departments in London

Alison regularly represents parents in complex care proceedings including those involving international elements; where non accidental injury, physical abuse and sexual abuse of children has been alleged; fabricated illness; domestic abuse and cases with parallel criminal proceedings . She is also experienced in acting in public and private law children cases where there are issues of radicalisation.

Alison has experience of many different aspects of international family law including child abduction, wardship, jurisdictional disputes, international relocation of children, adoption, registration and enforcement of foreign orders, transnational spousal abandonment ( aka stranded spouse cases), forced marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.

She also advises parents in respect of disputes about where a child should live and who a child spends time with. This includes where there is social services involvement with the family.

Alison is experienced in acting for parents where there is a dispute with treating doctors as to what treatment a child should receive and frequently represents very vulnerable clients. She is known for her calm, patient and compassionate approach.

Alison provides training in her fields of expertise for other professionals including lawyers, social workers, health care professionals and advice agencies. She enjoys training and developing the next generation of lawyers and guest lectures undergraduate students and is a mentor for YLAL ( Young Legal Aid Lawyers).

Alison was named Family Lawyer of the Year at the British Family Law Awards 2024. She was highly commended as Female Trailblazer of the Year at the Modern Law Awards 2024 and was also highly commended as Family Law Partner of the Year at the Family Law Awards 2023.

In 2022 Alison was shortlisted for Family Law Partner of the Year at the Family Law Awards and was also shortlisted for Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award 2022 in the Family Law category.