Welcoming Tara Celikoz to 1COR as a new tenant - Jan 2021
Tara is an Associate Member of Chambers and a highly experienced family law practitioner. She was called to the Bar in 2007 and completed her pupillage in Sussex. Although continuing to practice as a tenant from the chambers where she had successfully completed her pupillage in 2008, Tara was much later invited to practice as In-House Counsel with family law Solicitors firms in Sussex. This extended Tara’s already extensive family law skills in advocacy to include responsibility for running her own significant family public and private law caseload.
Alongside her practice, Tara has made a significant contribution to legal education. She lectured on the Bar Vocational Studies (BVS) programme at City St George’s, University of London (formerly the Inns of Court School of Law), contributing to teaching and assessment materials and delivery of core CEB knowledge modules and university-assessed skills training. She developed a reputation for excellence in advocacy training, with a particular focus on practical courtroom skills and the development of persuasive and effective advocates.
Tara currently works as a lawyer within the Bar Standards Board and she is not accepting instructions in a self-employed capacity at this time.
This role has further enhanced her expertise and interest in professional conduct, ethics and regulation, providing valuable insight into the standards expected of barristers and the regulatory framework governing the profession.
Children (Public Law)Within public law children Tara is instructed in complex Care Proceedings, often representing parents and children through their Children’s Guardians. Whilst having acted for local authorities and parents, she has significant experience, expertise and interest in representing children through their Children’s Guardians during disputes concerning (but not limited to) issues of chronic neglect, sexual abuse and non-accidental injury.
Tara continues to build a strong specialist practice in this area and is regularly instructed to act for children at all stages of the proceedings with a particular emphasis on fully contested EPO, ICO, Fact Finding and Final Hearings. She has further appeared at the High Court in relation to questions of non-Hague jurisdictional disputes and child abduction.
Selected Cases
- A Local Authority v A: Acted for a mother concerning allegations of serious physical abuse and honour-based violence against the eldest child, resulting in serious findings of fact made against the parents. At the conclusion of the proceedings, the youngest two children returned home to the care of their parents.
- A Local Authority v C & W: Represented a child following abduction by the mother to a non-Hague Convention country and successfully argued against permission for the Local Authority to withdraw its initial ICO application. Additionally, successfully argued for a media alert as to the families’ whereabouts and for Wardship of the High Court.
- A Local Authority v K & G: Acted for children involving multiple allegations of serious physical, sexual and emotional abuse against a parent resulting in a number of findings of fact being made against the perpetrator.
- A Local Authority v C: Acted for children during long standing chronic neglect case concerning complex issues of sibling separation and post permanence inter-sibling contact. Successfully argued against sibling separation by way of Local Authority proposed Final Care and Placement Orders with the Local Authority amending its initial Final Care Plans, so as to preserve the sibling relationship with final placement in foster care.
- A Local Authority v M: Acted for very young child who had suffered a number of non-accidental injuries including various body fractures and a subdural haemorrhage. The child was returned to the care of a Maternal family member.
Tara is experienced in acting on behalf of parents during contentious applications for private law orders concerning allegations of domestic abuse, parental alienation, live with and spend time with disputes, domestic and international relocation.
Additionally, Tara regularly acts for children through 16.4 Children Guardian Appointments during intractable live with and spend time with disputes. Tara accepts instructions in relation to applications for Special Guardianship Orders.
Tara continues to represent clients in injunctive proceedings, particularly where such are connected to concurrent Children Act 1989 matters involving allegations of serious domestic abuse.
