Child Care Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is delighted to announce that child care specialist Sophie Rayment has been promoted to Director of Family & Child Care. As Director of Child Care for our Peterborough and Cambridge offices, Sophie will also continue to assist clients across Bedfordshire from our Luton office.

Sophie’s remarkable career at Duncan Lewis began in 2016 when she joined the firm as a Caseworker. Throughout her journey at Duncan Lewis, Sophie has developed a wealth of experience in all aspects of child care law. Since completing her training contract with the firm and qualifying as a Solicitor in October 2019, Sophie has been an invaluable member of our exceptional South East family and child care team with dedicated offices in Luton, Milton Keynes and Harrow. The department is ranked in Tier 1 across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Herefordshire and Middlesex in The Legal 500 UK directory where they are hailed as the “go-to recommendation for family law” and applauded for their “stellar reputation for going the extra mile”.

Sophie has developed an impressive specialism in care proceedings, where she supports parents whose children have been removed from their care for a variety of reasons including drug abuse, physical abuse and poor home conditions. Sophie has consistently demonstrated her commitment to helping parents engage with professional services to obtain the help they need in order to have their children returned to their care safely. Her specialisms include supporting victims of domestic violence, clients who have suffered sexual abuse and clients with psychological issue. Sophie has a notable track record of successfully obtaining Non Molestation Orders for victims of domestic violence to ensure that her clients receive the protection they need. Her depth of knowledge also extends to private law children proceedings, where Sophie routinely secures Residence Orders, Contract Orders, and Prohibited Steps Orders for her client, further testament to her extensive experience in the field.

Upon her promotion to Director, Sophie comments:

“I commenced employment with Duncan Lewis Solicitors in March 2016 as a Caseworker and managed to progress to a Director within eight years. Duncan Lewis supported and encouraged me to this stage in my career with the chance to develop and progress. The firm is incredibly supportive in the training they provide in readiness for promotions. Director Krina Parmar has heavily invested her time into training me over the last eight years and I would like to recognise this as I am extremely grateful for her guidance. I look forward to settling into my new role and working with a new team.”

Sophie’s journey to becoming a Director underscores her depth of knowledge, commitment to clients, and dedicated to our team. Her promotion heralds a new chapter of growth and excellence for both herself and our firm as a whole. To learn more about the career pathways available at Duncan Lewis, click here to listen to the career journeys made by some of our award winning Directors.

Duncan Lewis are dedicated to recruiting and retaining the most talented employees, and we are proud to have held the Investors in People Gold Standard Accreditation since 2009. We invest heavily in career progression, with 47% of our legal Directors having been internally promoted from a Solicitor role. The firm currently has 63 legal Directors, acting as Heads of Department across various legal teams nationwide. We embrace the diversity of our leadership and strive to ensure that our personnel reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, with 68% of our Directors identifying as female and 54% from ethnic minority groups, underscoring our commitment to equal opportunities. We continue to be recognised as a leading national law firm by The Legal 500 UK and Chambers & Partners directories, representing privately funded and publicly funded (legal aid) clients in over 25 areas of law from offices across London and throughout England and Wales.

Duncan Lewis’ Family and Child Care department is ranked by The Legal 500 UK and Chambers and Partners for its family and matrimonial work nationwide, providing advice on the full spectrum of family matters, including international child abduction cases, special guardianship orders, wardship issues, surrogacy and adoption cases, and public law children matters. The department includes over 160 family specialists, with a significant number of our solicitors who have achieved the Law Society’s Children Law and Family Law Advanced accreditations, illustrating their expertise and significant experience in these fields.

For advice or assistance on a child care matter, contact Sophie Rayment via email at sophier@duncanlewis.com, or by telephone at 02070147388