Spear’s Review

Zoe Fleetwood heads up the national children law practice at Mills & Reeve, frequently advising on cases that involve multiple jurisdictions. 

Having dealt with cases that involve everything from child abduction to wardship, domestic violence, forced marriage, special guardianship, and domestic and international adoption, Fleetwood has considerable expertise in child matters. In 2016, she gained media attention for her successful representation of a terminally ill 14-year-old girl who wished to be cryogenically preserved. 

‘I’m not just a family solicitor, but also a strategist and human rights adviser,’ she has said of her practice. Indeed, peers have highlighted Fleetwood’s ‘clarity of thought’ and her ‘highly supportive and engaging manner’.

She is also an advocate for settling cases outside of court where possible: ‘We are seeing an increase in arbitration in contested children cases, which is a positive move away from hostile litigation, which, given the courts are in crisis, leaves children subjected to harmful delays,’ she tells Spear’s. 

Notable cases

• RS and TU [2025] EWHC 3552 (Fam)
• KMM v NAM (Jurisdiction) [2021] EWHC 2300 (Fam)
• Re H-N and others (children) (domestic abuse: finding of fact hearings) [2021] EWCA Civ 448
• S v S (Relocation) [2017] EWHC 2345 (Fam)
• Re JS (Disposal of Body) [2016] EWHC 2859 (Fam)