Kim Lehal

Kim Lehal is one of the country’s most talented family lawyers. Kim is an accredited specialist in international child abduction proceedings and has acted in a number of ground-breaking cases. Brethertons is one of only 42 specialist teams appointed by the Ministry of Justice to sit on the Child Abduction: Accredited Solicitors Referral List. Brethertons is the only law firm in Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire to have been elected to the Panel and have been a member since 2001.

Alongside international child abduction, Kim is a recognised expert in all aspects of children’s law. This includes complex family disputes in Child Arrangements proceedings, international public law proceedings, cross-border adoption, wardship and proceedings pursuant to the Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court, recognition and enforcement of judgments and matters concerning parental responsibility.

Kim also advises and represents victims of domestic abuse, honour-based violence, FGM and abandoned spouses in foreign jurisdictions. She is also highly regarded as a specialist in assisted reproduction law and advises on complex international surrogacy arrangements and in multifaceted parental order cases where there have been issues with domicile, consent or where nationality or immigration law has caused difficulties with Family Court applications in the UK.

Compassionate, assertive, multi-lingual, smart and honest, Kim focuses on listening to her clients and working with them to find the best strategy and solution to the issues they face. She is exceptionally proactive when it comes to keeping her clients up to date with progress. Kim is also careful to explain that in matters concerning children, her priority, along with the Court’s, is primarily concerned with the welfare of the child.

Kim speaks fluent Punjabi and Hindi and is proficient in Urdu. Outside of work, Kim loves travelling, keeping fit and spending time with her family.

Memberships

• Accredited specialist by the Law Society Family Law Advanced panel in International Child Abduction and Children Law since 2013.
• Accredited member of the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) Specialist Solicitors Panel, the Reunite Panel of Recommended Lawyers.
• Founding member of the Child Abduction Lawyers Association (CALA) and has previously been appointed and acted as its membership secretary.
• Trained Special Educational Needs lawyer - Kim collaborates closely with parents and young adults and assists them to obtain support from Local Authorities with their educational needs.

Commentary

‘Kim Lehal is particularly recommended for her work in international child abduction proceedings. It is ‘one of the premier out-of-London firms’.’ – Legal 500

‘Kim Lehal is outstandingly brilliant. She has an ability to settle anxious clients and explain complex legal matters in an understandable way. She has an encyclopaedic knowledge of international adoption procedure and practice, with particular expertise at the recognition of foreign adoption orders.’ – Legal 500

Noteable Cases:

Re G (a child) [2021] UKSC 9

Kim represented Reunite in this landmark decision in which the Supreme Court ruled that a child who can objectively be understood to be an Applicant for asylum cannot be returned to the country from which they have sought refuge before their asylum claim has been decided.

[2020] EWCA Civ 1185 Z (Recognition of Foreign Adoption: Refusal) (2020)

Kim represented a parent in complex international adoption proceedings where a single-parent sought to have an Iranian Adoption Order recognised in the UK.

Uhd v McKay [2019] EWHC 1239 (Fam)

In this highly publicised case, Kim represented a parent seeking to defend Hague Convention 1980 proceedings pursuant to Article 13(b).

R v R (Jurisdiction and Acquiescence) [2016] 1339 EWHC (Fam)

This judgment addressed imperative issues about jurisdiction when issuing private law proceedings under the Children Act 1989 in any case that has an international element, particularly in cases where a parent has recently arrived in the jurisdiction with their children.

Y (Children) [2018] EWCA Civ 1208

Kim successfully represented a parent in the Court of Appeal against an order under the Hague Convention for a parent to return two children to Canada.

Re S (A Child) [2018] EWCA Civ 1453

An appeal raising the question as to whether and when it may be appropriate for the Court to dismiss a Hague Convention application. Kim was successful in defending a Hague Convention application.

Re C (Children) (Abduction: Article 13(b)) [2018] EWCA Civ 2834

Kim successfully represented a parent in the Court of Appeal in relation to the dismissal of a Hague Convention application to have two children returned to South Africa.

JEG v IS [2014] EWHC 287 (Fam) (13 February 2014)

Kim represented a parent who had abducted a child to Russian where there were serious allegations of sexual abuse.

Re B (A CHILD) (1980 HAGUE CONVENTION PROCEEDINGS) [2014] EWCA Civ 375

In another Hague Convention case, Kim successfully represented a parent, in the Court of Appeal, whose child had been wrongfully removed from France. This case also involved care proceedings in which the child had been removed from the abducting parenting and placed with her uncle under an Interim Care Order.

ED (A Child) 2014 EWHC 2731 (Fam)

Kim represented a parent who did not have parental responsibility and successfully argued that where a Polish parent had retained the child in Poland after a holiday in breach of promises to the English Court, those promises amounted to an express and unequivocal acceptance that the English Court had jurisdiction in matters of parental responsibility.

CB v CB [2013] EWHC 2092 (Fam) (10 April 2013)

Kim represented a parent and successfully returned her child to Australia under the Hague Convention 1980.