Malvika Jaganmohan

Overview

Malvika is a specialist family law practitioner. She was named a Tier One ‘Rising Star (Children Law: Public and Private)’ in the Legal 500 2023. She regularly acts in cases of a level of complexity beyond her year of call. She prides herself on her approachable manner and her ability to put even the most vulnerable and anxious clients at ease.

Within her public law children practice, Malvika represents local authorities, parents, relatives and children. She has appeared up to High Court level and her caseload spans a range of complex issues, including non-accidental injuries suffered by children.

Malvika has a busy private law children practice, acting for both parents and children. She regularly handles complex fact-finding hearings concerning allegations of serious domestic abuse. She has undertaken the Family Law Bar Association’s ‘Advocacy and the Vulnerable’ training and she has co-authored a book entitled ‘A Practical Guide to Practice Direction 12J and Domestic Abuse in Private Law Children Proceedings’. The link to the book can be found by clicking here.

Malvika’s areas of interest include:

• Allegations of domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour, emotional abuse and sexual abuse;
• The internal and international relocation of children;
• Forced marriage (Malvika recently appeared in the reported case of K (Forced Marriage Protection Orders; Abuse of Process) [2021] EWFC 94);
• Intractable contact disputes;
• Non-accidental injuries to children;
• Transparency in the family courts.

Alongside her practice, Malvika is very active in the wider legal community. She sits on Chambers’ Equality, Diversity and Wellbeing Committee and she is chambers’ representative within the West Midlands Family Law Bar Association. She is particularly passionate about mental health and wellbeing amongst lawyers; she runs her own blog on the subject and she is a Champion for LawCare. She is a founding member of Women in Family Law and is co-lead of their Wellbeing sub-committee.

Malvika regularly takes on pro bono cases; she is a panel member at Advocate (formerly The Bar Pro Bono Unit) and was nominated for Young Pro Bono Barrister of the Year in the Bar Pro Bono Awards 2020. She is also part of the Legal Reference Panel for the Centre for Women’s Justice and she volunteers with Birmingham City University’s Law Clinic.

Malvika is part of the core group for The Transparency Project, a charity which explains and discusses family law cases in England and Wales with the aim of demystifying the family justice system.

Malvika co-hosts a popular family law podcast entitled ‘Professionally Embarrassing’ which was shortlisted for ‘Family Law Commentator of the Year’ in the LexisNexis Family Law Awards in 2021 and 2022.

In 2022, Malvika was awarded a Pegasus Scholarship by The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. The Pegasus Scholarship Scheme makes it possible for talented young lawyers to learn about the workings of a different legal system and to form long-lasting relationships with lawyers in another country. Malvika spent 7 weeks in New Delhi, where she was placed with Rajkotia & Associates, a leading matrimonial law firm; and with the Delhi Commission for Women, a statutory body within the Government of Delhi.

Qualifications

London School of Economics and Political Science, LLB Law (First Class Honours)

Sciences Po Paris, Campus de Menton (Exchange Programme)

Nottingham Trent University, LLM BPTC (Very Competent in BPTC; Distinction in LLM)

Memberships

Resolution

Family Law Bar Association

The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn

Young Legal Aid Lawyers

Awards/Scholarships

Herbert Smith Freehills Prize for Best Performance in Part I, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2014

Joint Winner, Mike Redmayne Prize for Law of Evidence, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2016

Slaughter and May Prize for best overall degree performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2016

Marchant Scholarship, The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, 2016

Nottingham Law School Dean’s BPTC Scholarship for Academic Excellence, Nottingham Trent University, 2016

St Mary’s Family Law Second Prize, Nottingham Trent University, 2017

Hubert Greenland Scholarship, The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, 2018

Pegasus Scholarship, The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, 2022

Recent Publications

‘A tale of two experts’, October 2022, The Transparency Project Blog. To read more, click here.

‘TT (Children: Discharge of Care Order) [2021] EWCA Civ 742 What test does the court need to apply when faced with an application for discharge of a care order and what now for GM v Carmarthenshire County Council?’, Summer 2021, St Ives Chambers Newsletter. To read more, click here.

‘What does AA v BB tell us about the treatment of domestic abuse since Re H-N?’, August 2021, The Transparency Project Blog. To read more, click here.

‘Relinquishing a baby for adoption: the legal framework for local authorities’ (co-authored with Madeleine Whelan), August 2020, Family Law Journal. To read more, click here.

‘Now, more than ever, transparency matters’, May 2020, The Review. To read more, click here.

‘UPDATE: Z (A Child: committal proceeding) – a reminder that no one can be committed to prison without being named publicly’, May 2020, The Transparency Project Blog. To read more, click here.

‘Remote hearings: a gulf between lawyers and lay parties?’, March 2020, The Transparency Project Blog. To read more, click here.

‘How technology almost thwarted the family courts again (Z (A Child: committal proceeding))’, March 2020, The Transparency Project Blog. To read more, click here.

‘“I hurt you because I love you” – what did TV’s Silent Witness get right and wrong about the treatment of domestic violence in the family courts?’ January 2020, The Transparency Project Blog. To read more, click here.

‘No take-backs? The parents who changed their mind about adoption and the local authority who got it very, very wrong’, October 2019. To read more, click here.

‘F (A Child: Fact-Finding Appeal) [2019] EWCA Civ 1244: what’s the difference between an expert witness and a witness with expertise?’ August 2019. To read more, click here.

Reported cases

• K (Forced Marriage Protection Orders; Abuse of process) [2021] EWFC B94
• Re Z (Care Proceedings: Reopening of Fact Finding) [2023] EWFC 137

Recommendations

Legal 500 2023: “Malvika is very strong on the technical side of matters, presenting strong and well-constructed skeleton arguments on difficult points of law, but also with respect to her advocacy.”

Privacy Notice

Click here to view the privacy notice for Malvika Jaganmohan.