Specialist family law Firm, Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice, has won ‘Family Law Firm of the Year – Midlands and Wales at the 2022 Family Law Awards.
The Firm, based in Cardiff, was the first specialist family law firm in Wales and is still one of the biggest in England and Wales. The annual awards ceremony took place at the Westminster Park Plaza in London with nearly 1000 attendees. The Firm has previously been nominated as finalists in 2019 and crowned winners for the first time in 2017 of the then Welsh only category. The category has now been extended to Wales and the Midlands.
The Family Law Awards are regarded as the most prestigious awards in this industry. Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice were the only Welsh Firm nominated as finalists and beat tough competition from highly reputable, Midlands-based firms.
The panel of independent judges highlighted the Firm’s strong commitment to pro-bono work, community activities and the development of their staff.
The Firm has been heavily involved in pro-bono work since it was founded in 1996. Melanie Hamer (Director) has been a Trustee of the Cardiff City Football Club Foundation and is a current Trustee of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity, a member of Aberystwyth University Governance and Compliance Committee, a member of Monumental Welsh Women; Thea Hughes (Director) is a trustee of Family Mediation Cymru, the only non-profit family mediation provider in Wales; David James has acted as a Trustee for Relate Cymru and is involved with Cardiff University’s School of Law and Politics; Rebecca Knight is an independent Director of Hockey Wales.
Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice has supported Welsh homelessness charity, Llamau, for the past two years. Recently, Bethan Tapper (Solicitor) teamed up with Llamau to create a legal clinic, where she and other Solicitors at the Firm, provide free legal advice to those who would otherwise have no means of obtaining it.
The Firm has a track record of hiring young lawyers and developing them into highly-talented family law practitioners. Sarah Wyburn and Rebecca Knight (Directors), Sam John (Associate), Gabriella Evans, Bethan Tapper and Fay Jones (Solicitors), all started at the Firm as Trainees. Esther Ifan joined the Firm in July 2021 as a paralegal and was awarded a training contract in August of this year.
Founding Director of Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice, Melanie Hamer, commented: “I am so proud of each and every member of our dedicated team who regularly go above and beyond expectations. This reward is truly the result of a team effort. Winning this award in a group with so many English competitors is really fantastic. It also reflects the fact that we already attract so many clients from England who are impressed by the service we offer”.
