Charlotte Proudman opens family law firm offering trauma-informed representation
Feminist barrister Charlotte Proudman has launched her own Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)-regulated law firm offering trauma-informed family law representation in London and Cambridge. The firm, named Proudmans, opens today with the stated aim of improving client experience and driving systemic reform within the family courts.
The firm specialises in financial remedy cases following divorce, as well as private and international children proceedings, with a strong focus on supporting survivors of domestic abuse.
Operating as an alternative business structure, Proudmans brings together solicitors, barristers, and paralegals under one umbrella, offering what Proudman describes as a “one-stop shop” for clients navigating complex family proceedings.
Proudman told the Law Gazette that the new venture will also pursue strategic litigation designed to address what she calls “systemic failings” in the family justice system, both in the UK and internationally. She said the goal is to “bring transparency, accountability and reform to a system that too often operates behind closed doors.”
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Proudman, who has built her legal career around cases involving violence against women and girls, said she founded the firm after witnessing the difficulties faced by mothers and children in family courts, particularly survivors of coercive control and post-separation abuse.
“Too often clients go through proceedings without lawyers who truly understand the insidious, immobilising nature of coercive control,” she said. “I founded Proudmans after seeing first-hand how hard it can be for survivors to find trauma-informed representation.”
The firm’s model is built around trauma-informed practice — a client-centred approach that recognises how trauma can affect communication, decision-making, and engagement with legal processes. By adapting how cases are handled, the aim is to reduce the risk of re-traumatising clients during proceedings.
Proudman, who trains legal professionals through the domestic abuse charity SafeLives, said the approach has proved transformative but remains uncommon. “I’ve seen how impactful trauma-informed practice can be — and how rare it still is,” she said.
She described founding the firm as “a long-held dream” and “the beginning of a new chapter”. Proudman added:
“It feels like the culmination of years of practice and campaigning for reform. I am proud to build a firm that reflects the principles I’ve spent my career fighting for, and to train the next generation of family lawyers to make lasting change.”
Previously at Goldsmith Chambers in London, where she remains a door tenant, Proudman is joined by Manveet Chhina, the solicitor who represented her pro bono in 2022 during disciplinary proceedings brought by the Bar Standards Board. The tribunal later dismissed the charge, ruling she had no case to answer.
Also joining the team is Mona Faham, a University of California, Berkeley graduate, known for her work in human rights and advocacy for marginalised communities.
Proudman said she is actively seeking lawyers who share her values of integrity, courage, and compassion to join the new practice.
Among the firm’s early instructions is a pro bono case representing a journalist seeking permission to report on psychological assessments ordered in the family courts concerning the contentious issue of parental alienation.
Speaking about her broader motivation, Proudman said:
“Advocacy is most powerful when grounded in conviction. I’ve been told I ‘care too much’; I take that as the highest compliment. I see my work as a vocation, not simply a career.”
Proudman’s decision to establish an SRA-regulated practice makes her one of the few barristers to lead a law firm combining advocacy, litigation, and public interest work within a single structure. Her initiative reflects growing calls within the legal profession for greater transparency and trauma awareness in family proceedings.