Family Matters welcomed Jane as an associate mediator in February 2016 following a twenty-year career as a family solicitor in Lincolnshire. She went on to achieve full Family Mediation Council Accreditation in 2018. The means she can mediate about both financial and children issues.
Jane also presents the Separated Parents Information Programme for separated parents going through the court process.
Jane believes her skills as a mediator are continuing to evolve as she gains in experience. She describes “thinking as a lawyer” and “thinking as a mediator” as being very different. Jane’s legal background means she can give people in mediation information about the Family Court and its procedures, at the same time as helping them to reach agreement away from the court arena.
Jane has a particular interest in successfully mediating parents in high conflict: she is hoping to qualify as a Children in Mediation Consultant soon. She also enjoys the structure and discipline of financial mediation and the process of assisting clients to share their financial documents.
Jane has adapted to the challenges and changes brought by COVID-19 and is now proficient in the use of online video calls for MIAMs as well as joint and shuttle mediations using technology such as Zoom, WhatsApp, FaceTime and Microsoft Teams.
Jane has qualified as a Child Inclusive Mediator , this means she can consult children and young people as part of the mediation process.Jane said ”I have wanted to train for some time but felt I should be secure in my skills as mediator before embarking on training in this specialism. I am passionate about children’s voices being heard in mediation when their parents separate”
Away from work, Jane is chair of governors at an infant school, where she enjoys the ‘critical friend’ role working alongside her fellow governors. Jane also regularly supports the children’s reading and tries to find the right answer (to give a 5-year-old) to the question ‘what do you do in school?’
Jane’s clients say:
Jane is accredited by the Family Mediation Council and is a member of Resolution
