Malvika Jaganmohan

Overview

Malvika is a family practitioner, accepting instructions in all areas of family law, including applications under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996, public and private law children, and matrimonial finance. Malvika completed pupillage at a specialist family law chambers in London before joining St Ives as a tenant.

Malvika prides herself on her approachable manner, and her ability to put even the most vulnerable and anxious clients at ease.

Within her public law practice, Malvika acts for both local authorities and parents, and she has appeared up to High Court level. Her caseload has spanned a range of complex issues, including non-accidental injury, serious domestic abuse and deprivations of liberty, to name but a few.

Malvika has a busy private law practice and has acted for parents and r. 16.4 Guardians. She has a particular interest in cases concerning intractable hostility to contact; private law matters with a public law dimension, and cases with overlapping immigration issues.

Malvika has a growing financial remedies practice. During pupillage, she was exposed to a range of ancillary relief matters and spent a week “on exchange”, shadowing members at a specialist matrimonial finance chambers.

Before coming to the Bar, Malvika spent nine months as a Legal Officer in a Local Authority legal services department within their childcare team. This has given her a firm grounding in public child law processes, particularly from a local authority perspective.

Malvika 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 has been described by Advocate as a “future pro bono star of the Bar”.

Alongside her practice, Malvika is very active in the wider legal community. She is particularly passionate about mental health and wellbeing amongst lawyers and runs her own blog – Stiff Upper Lip – on the subject. She is also a Champion for LawCare. She writes case analyses, book reviews and comment pieces regularly and she is frequently invited to speak on panels on a range of issues; recent talks have included mental health in the life of a lawyer; becoming a barrister; and race and law. She was also invited to give oral evidence to the Westminster Commission on Legal Aid, chaired by Karen Buck MP, in the family legal aid session.

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 is also a founding member of Women in Family Law (WiFL).

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

Association of Lawyers for Children

Associate Member of 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

Publications

Malvika Jaganmohan has written for Resolution’s ‘The Review’ on behalf of The Transparency Project. This piece warns against sidelining open justice and transparency in the family courts during COVID-19.  May 2020. 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. To view client here.

Remote hearings: a gulf between lawyers and lay parties? March 2020. To view click here.

How technology almost thwarted the family courts again (Z (A Child: committal proceeding)). March 2020. To view 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. To view 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 view 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 view click here.

The President’s Expert Witness Working Group Symposium: in which lawyers (for once) were not the loudest voices in the room. July 2019. To view click here.

Picking up the pieces post – LASPO. July 2019. To view click here.

Expert Witnesses: The Crisis in Family Courts. June 2019. To view click here.

Film Review: On the Basis of Sex. March 2019. To view click here.

‘In Your Defence: Stories of Life and Law’: An Interview with Sarah Langford. March 2019. To view click here.

Book Review: ‘Eve Was Shamed’ by Helen Kennedy QC. December 2018. To view click here.

Client Testimonials

“Our client contacted me at the end of last week to say how pleased he was with Malvika over the 2 day FH last week. I attended with counsel also and she was excellent. She knew the case inside out and was confident and compelling on her feet.” – representative from instructing solicitor’s firm.

“I can’t thank Malvika enough and I would highly recommend her services as professional, focussed and outcome-driven.” – pro bono client