Top
ranked specialist family law firm Dawson Cornwell has announced the
appointment of Hilka
Hollmann, a family law expert specialising in children, adoption, and
surrogacy law, who joins as partner.
Hilka
is an expert in all facets of domestic and international children law,
including complex cases frequently involving extremely serious allegations.
Hilka has expertise in adoption and surrogacy matters, as well as representing
children in complex care proceedings with an international dimension. Hilka
also has extensive experience in cases relating to sexual abuse and
radicalisation. She joins from Freemans, where she was a partner.
With
nearly two decades of family law experience, Hilka has been involved in some of
the most high-profile and important cases before the High Court and Court of
Appeal. Hilka is on the Law Society’s Children Panel, is an accredited
Resolution specialist lawyer for Child Abduction and Adoptions and co-authored
Resolution’s response to the Law Commission’s consultation on proposed changes
to surrogacy law in England and Wales. Hilka has been ranked in Chambers for
the past six years for her expertise in children matters.
Hilka’s
appointment builds on the recent addition of partner Amy
Rowe, a leading specialist on international children law and cross-border
disputes, who joined Dawson Cornwell’s internationally renowned Children
Department in 2021. Amy has extensive experience across the full range of
family law matters, including child abduction, jurisdictional disputes,
international relocation of children, and complex proceedings on behalf of
overseas public authorities in relation to cross border disputes and child
protection. Amy also specialises in complex domestic disputes about child
arrangements and cross border adoption cases, surrogacy and fertility law - in
November 2022, she acted for the adopters in a complex Hague Convention
adoption from an Asian Country into the UK before the High Court (A & Anor
v B & Anor [2022] EWHC 2962 (Fam)).
Hilka’s
intricate knowledge of adoption, fertility and surrogacy law and her wealth of
experience in the field bolsters Dawson Cornwell’s surrogacy and alternative
families’ practice, building on the Children Department’s years of experience
and involvement in shaping the development of surrogacy law.
Hilka
commented: 'I am excited
to join Dawson Cornwell’s internationally renowned Children Department. I look
forward to bringing my experience in children law, adoptions, and surrogacy
matters to the Firm’s well-regarded and growing practice. The success and
growth of Dawson Cornwell’s Children Department is extremely impressive, and the
knowledge and expertise in family law across the Firm is second to none.'
Head
of Dawson Cornwell’s Children Department Carolina Marín Pedreño commented: 'I am thrilled to welcome Hilka as
partner in our specialist Children Department. Her knowledge and
experience will be an invaluable asset as we continue to develop and strengthen
our successful practice.'
Dawson
Cornwell’s Children Department is instructed regularly on the most serious and
complex domestic and international children law cases – they continue to have
more than 20 reported cases each year at appellate level, including before the
Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights and, this
year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Dawson
Cornwell, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary now
comprises 13 partners and over 30 members. The Firm’s specialist departments
provide an internationally renowned service to clients across a broad range of
family, property and probate law.
Dawson
Cornwell is particularly renowned for its children law work, and the firm sits
on the Ministry of Justice’s International Child Abduction & Contact Unit’s
panel of specialist solicitors. Partner Amy Rowe was invited to meet with the
Law Commission to provide recommendations on surrogacy law reforms. The
Children Department is frequently instructed on the most complex cases across a
range of serious and complex children law cases including abduction, forced
marriage, honour-based violence and international custody disputes.
The firm is ranked Band 1 by Chambers & Partners’ 2023 guide and is ranked Tier 1 for Family Law by The Legal 500 2023. Dawson Cornwell is ranked as a Leading Firm in Chambers’ High Net Worth guide and has consistently been highly ranked across the leading legal directories for the past decade.
