Representing people in Birmingham, London and up and down the country, Mark  has successfully litigated the most complex family law cases. The cases he works on involve divorce, money or children.

 Mark has helped families with very complicated family law issues in the UK and internationally. He has an established practice representing people across a wide range of financial claims on divorce, including large and small business owners and entrepreneurs. This also includes a niche area advising in the context of third party intervenor claims.

 Mark is one of only a small handful of lawyers based outside of London that has a true expertise in dealing with complicated tax structures, overseas trusts and assets. He has delivered training to other family lawyers on these issues. Mark's practice spans across various foreign jurisdictions, representing professional trustees and spouses with international connections.

Mark has represented many parents in disputes about their children, including child abductions and relocation locally and abroad. Reunite, the leading UK charity specialising in the movement of children across international borders, lists him as one of five specialist lawyers in the West Midlands that deals with these issues.

Mark is regarded as a complete expert in all cases involving alienating children, fact find hearings and giving advice to parents and grandparents.

 As well as handling complex cases, he became a registered lawyer with the Football Association. He has also contributed to the book ‘Retired: What Footballers Do When The Game’s Up’. Mark's expertise is often in demand from professional football players, who value his ability to combine legal advice with an in depth knowledge of the industry.

 Over the years Mark has built up a niche practice advising families from Asian communities and the issues that commonly arise. This often includes representing third party family members who may have an interest in matrimonial assets or defending these claims and resolving issues involving jewellery, self employed businesses and marriages with allegations of abuse. Mark is one of only a handful of specialists in this area and regularly write and lecture on the topic.

 Mark is independently recognised as leading family lawyer. Most of my cases come from recommendations. He places a high value on client care, which is shown in the volume of 5* Trust Pilot reviews that he has received. He has also won multiple awards (IAFL European Lawyer Award 2016, Law Society Solicitor of the Year 2015, Jordan’s Family Law Team of the Year 2017, and Birmingham Law Society – Family Law Team Excellence in Client Service 2019).

 Outside the office Mark is a proud father of two children. He enjoys playing football and has played to a semi-professional level for over a decade. When he's not engaged in his love of sport, Mark also enjoys growing his own vegetables (a welcome break from the children!)

Representing people in Birmingham, London and up and down the country, I’ve successfully litigated the most complex family law cases. The cases I work on involve divorce, money or children.

 I’ve helped families with very complicated family law issues in the UK and internationally. I have an established practice representing people across a wide range of financial claims on divorce, including large and small business owners and entrepreneurs. This also includes a niche area advising in the context of third party intervenor claims.

 I am one of only a small handful of lawyers based outside of London that has a true expertise in dealing with complicated tax structures, overseas trusts and assets. I have delivered training to other family lawyers on these issues. My practice spans across various foreign jurisdictions, representing professional trustees and spouses with international connections.

 I’ve represented many parents in disputes about their children, including child abductions and relocation locally and abroad. Reunite, the leading UK charity specialising in the movement of children across international borders, lists me as one of five specialist lawyers in the West Midlands that deals with these issues.

 I am regarded as a complete expert in all cases involving alienating children, fact find hearings and giving advice to parents and grandparents.

 As well as handling complex cases, I became a registered lawyer with the Football Association. I’ve also contributed to the book ‘Retired: What Footballers Do When The Game’s Up’. My expertise is often in demand from professional football players, who value my ability to combine legal advice with an in depth knowledge of the industry.

 Over the years I’ve built up a niche practice advising families from Asian communities and the issues that commonly arise. This often includes representing third party family members who may have an interest in matrimonial assets or defending these claims and resolving issues involving jewellery, self employed businesses and marriages with allegations of abuse. I’m one of only a handful of specialists in this area and regularly write and lecture on the topic.

 I am independently recognised as leading family lawyer. Most of my cases come from recommendations. I place a high value on client care, which is shown in the volume of 5* Trust Pilot reviews that I have received. I have also won multiple awards (IAFL European Lawyer Award 2016, Law Society Solicitor of the Year 2015, Jordan’s Family Law Team of the Year 2017, and Birmingham Law Society – Family Law Team Excellence in Client Service 2019).

 Outside the office I’m a proud father of two children. I enjoy playing football and I played to a semi-professional level for over a decade. When I’m not engaged in my love of sport I also enjoy growing my own vegetables (a welcome break from the children!)

Aruna is the Founder of the Asian Single Parents Network CIC (ASPN), the only support network for both single mums and dads across the UK for the South Asian community.

With a personal life experience of divorce spanning some 20+ years, having gone through two arranged marriages, she has first-hand knowledge of the challenges and stigma one faces in this community in what can be one of life’s most difficult and stressful times.

Her first marriage occurred when she was 21, not long after graduating from university. The relationship broke down after her husband’s family demanded more dowry (property, gifts, or money, given at the marriage of a daughter) from her family. Aruna later remarried – but her second marriage ended after eight years. She and her second husband have a daughter, who is now 18.

As she adjusted to her new life as a single parent, Aruna realised how isolating it could be. She craved a support network of people who could relate to her situation. 

Set up in 2011, ASPN has organised an array of activities for hundreds of members, including day trips and weekends away, and in response to the pandemic, the network adjusted very quickly organising Zoom activities and virtual meets. It has also held numerous Expert Q & As covering topics relevant to single parents, such as family law, financial, and parenting.

The network is a safe space, where members can talk to others in the same boat without judgment. It provides company for parents when doing activities which they would have otherwise done alone. It also helps the children of members who might feel different to their peers, seeing that there are others in the same situation as themselves.

Each region has a WhatsApp group, so that people can make friendships locally too.

Over the last year, Aruna and ASPN have appeared in various media articles by the BBC, Eastern Eye, ITV and others as well as on TV.

Aruna has also worked as a Senior Business and Legal Researcher for 20+ years in a variety of sectors over the years at some of the top firms of their field in London. For instance, Saatchi & Saatchi in advertising, Arup in engineering, Clifford Chance, Bristows and Taylor Wessing in Law. Also, a number of top universities including Imperial, UCL, City and Kent.

Join the Network here www.aspnetwork.org.uk or contact Aruna via email on abansal@aspnetwork.org.uk

Aysha is a specialist Family and Shariah Law Associate with Irwin Mitchell. She has practiced family law since 2012.

During her career, Aruna has gained specialist experience advising clients on a range of family law matters, including:

• Divorces
• Dissolution of civil partnerships
• Finances
• Co-habitee disputes
• Child arrangements, including relocation
• Shariah issues relating to family law.

Aruna is multilingual and can speak several languages including Urdu, Mirpuri/Pothwari, Punjabi and Hindi, which can help overcome any barriers with some clients.

Aruna is known for her empathetic approach to sensitive family matters and has built a strong reputation for dealing with matters both pragmatically and robustly for her clients.

She regularly features in the Wales Online’s Young Lawyers to watch list and has been included in the '35 under 35 top young business and professional women in Wales' list. Aruna has also been announced as a Finalist in the Welsh Women’s Awards 2020.

In her spare time, Aruna enjoys running and going for long walks. She also enjoys spending quality time with her family, in particular, venturing out to theme parks and engaging in other adrenaline-pumping activities.

Rabba Ramie Smith is the co-founder of Gett Out UK, an organization that supports women going through Jewish divorce and advocates for systemic and legislative change. A graduate of Yeshiva University with a BA in English communications with an emphasis in television writing and public relations, and a focus on Women's Studies, Rabba Ramie combined her training at Yeshivat Maharat with her experience in media, hosting and producing "The Joy of Text," JOFA's innovative podcast on Judaism and sexuality for three years, and acting as the executive producer at Aleph Beta, a website that produces animated Torah videos. She worked with Manhattan College's Inside Outside program teaching criminal justice ethics at the Rose M. Singer Center at Rikers Island Jail. Her congregational experience includes cultivating a vibrant teen community at Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah in Potomac, Maryland, and serving as assistant Rabba and director of adult education and programming at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New York. Prior to moving to London, she taught Talmud at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles.