Dr Bianca Jackson

Bianca has developed an impressive and diverse children law practice. She is frequently instructed in complex public law proceedings involving allegations of serious harm to a child, including non-accidental injury, fabricated or induced illness, female genital mutilation, and physical and sexual abuse.  She is the co-author of Laing and Jackson: Public Children Law: Contemporary Issues (1st edn., 2018.

Bianca is an expert at representing very vulnerable clients, such as those with significant learning disabilities, mental health challenges, and different communication styles/languages (including deaf parents). She enjoys acting for children who have who are deemed to be competent and is well versed in the law surrounding deprivation of liberty, secure accommodation, and unregulated placements.

Bianca is the head of the Alternative Families Practice Group in chambers. She has acted in some of the most cutting-edge High Court cases in surrogacy law, assisted reproduction, and legal parenthood, and is often instructed  to provide expert advice in proceedings and to professional bodies. Bianca sits on the Ethics Board of Surrogacy UK, and is a member of the LGBT Family Law Institute and the Modern Parenting Network. She is highly knowledgeable about the medical science, case law, and statutory provisions related to assisted reproduction, and has lectured and published numerous articles on the subject. Bianca also has a growing practice of proceedings involving children and parents who are transgender or gender non-binary, and has helped draft guidance on legal issues for LGBTQ+ children in care.

Bianca represents parents, step-parents, grandparents, carers, and children (thought their 16.4 Guardian) in contentious private law disputes. She is an expert in dealing with cases involving intractable contact, allegations of domestic abuse, and specific issue disputes around medical treatment, religious practices, and name changes. Bianca is also very experienced in acting in relocation disputes, especially where there is an international element.

Understanding how stressful family court can be, Bianca is committed to providing pragmatic advice to her clients and to collaborating with them to find solutions. She is recognised for being “sensible before the judge and [she] avoids unhelpful point scoring. She gives straightforward advice and handles difficult clients well.”

She is the Deputy Editor of Family Law Week.

Public Law Children

Private Law Children

Alternative Families

International Family Law

University of Cambridge, MA – Law 2015

City Law School (Inns of Court School of Law), LLM 2013

City Law School (Inns of Court School of Law), Bar Professional Training Course 2012

University of Cambridge, BA (Hons) – Law 2010

University of Oxford, D. Phil – English Language and Literature 2008

University of Sussex, MA – English Literature 2003

Reed College (US), BA – English Literature 2000

Professional memberships

Middle Temple
Family Law Bar Association
Association of Lawyers for Children
Ethics Committee, Surrogacy UK
Family Law Institute
Modern Parenting Network
The Advocate (formerly the Bar Pro Bono Unit)
Association of Jewish Lawyers
Resolution

“Bianca is a brilliant barrister. Her knowledge of the law is excellent and she is always compassionate to clients. Bianca is very easy to talk to, which makes a difference to clients in care proceedings.” Legal 500 2024, Ranked: Tier 4

“Bianca is a calm and well prepared barrister. She is sensible before the judge and avoids unhelpful point scoring. She gives straightforward advice and handles difficult clients well.” Legal 500, 2023

Z (A Child) (Surrogacy) [2022] EWFC 18

A Local Authority v M & Ors [2022] EWHC 81 (Fam) (11 March 2022)

Re C (Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage: Fact Finding) [2019] EWHC 3449 (Fam) (16 June 2020)

Re D [2019] EWFC B65

E, A & N (Children- Domestic Violence) [2018] EWFC B91 (18 May 2018)

DM and LK [2016] EWHC 270 (Fam) (13 January 2016)

A & B (No 2 -Parental Order) [2015] EWHC 2080 (Fam) (17 July 2015)

A & B (No 1 -Fact finding judgment) [2015] EWHC 1059 (Fam) (20 April 2015)

Books 

Public Law: Contemporary Issues (Bloomsbury: 2018) [co-authored with Alexander Laing] 

Selected articles 

“Surrogacy Arrangements and Parental Orders: Where Are We Now?” Family Law Week (5 October 2022)

“Transgender youth in care proceedings Part 2: Best Practice,” Family Law (25 July 2022)

“Transgender youth in care proceedings Part 1,” Family Law (26 July 2022)

“Bell v Tavistock and the Implications for Trans Children, Part 2: the Law after AB v CD and others,” Family Law Week (25 May 2021)

“Bell v Tavistock and the Implications for Trans Children,” Family Law Week (22 December 2020)

“What’s in a name? Legal considerations when changing a transgender child’s forename,” Family Law (4 November 2021)

“Assisted Reproduction: Comparing Approaches in UK Law, Judaism, and Islam,” Family Law (23 July 2019)

‘“It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”: An overview of co-parenting and same-sex couples,’ Family Law (7 May 2019)

‘“Wait a Minute, Mr Postman”: Post-Adoption Contact after the Children and Families Act 2014,’ Family Law Week (21 September 2018)

‘“If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed?”: The Harassment of Cafcass and Local Authority Workers in Family Law Proceedings,’ Family Law Week (15 November 2016)

‘Alternative Families and Child Arrangement Orders,’ (webinar), Family Law Week (23 October 2016)

‘Mending Rainbows: Domestic Violence in the LGBT Community/Communities,’ Family Law Week (09 March 2016) [co-authored with Lucinda Wicks]

‘Band-aids for bullet holes: pro bono legal services post-LASPO,’ Family Law (4 November 2016)

‘Personal Protection under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996,’ (webinar), Family Law Week (19 February 2016)

“Surrogacy: A Guide to the Current Law (Part 1)”, Family Law Week (24 January 2014)

“Surrogacy: A Guide to the Current Law (Part 2) – Issues Arising”, Family Law Week (30 January 2014)