Ruth Smallacombe

Ruth is a founder member of 'Family Law in Partnership', an innovative family law practice based in Covent Garden, London which combines both family law and collaborative practitioners, therapists and family mediators providing a range of services for people contemplating separation or divorce. Ruth is committed to helping clients and their children through the process, with a clear focus on the client and on the solution. She has a high profile as a trainer and lecturer in the family and legal field and is dedicated to bringing positive change and awareness amongst the professionals. Ruth draws from her wealth of experience in social work and is in practice as a senior accredited counsellor, collaborative practitioner, family and commercial mediator and professional supervisor.

Ruth's practice has embraced the collaborative movement from the moment its founder, Stu Webb visited the UK, initiating and being part of the first UK training with Pauline Tesler and then training in the "Team model" in the United States and in the UK. She is an active member of the I.A.C.P, Family Mediators Association and the ADR/Collaborative Committee of Resolution in the UK, being responsible for creating the standards, and Register of Family Consultants [the role of the 'coach' in the US] and promoting interdisciplinary awareness and for the training of collaborative lawyers and other professionals. As a highly regarded training provider and designer, Ruth delivers collaborative, mediation, counselling, and mental health courses, seminars and workshops to a number of legal organisations and other services, statutory and voluntary. She has now trained many collaborative professionals across the UK and internationally at both foundation and advanced level and in the vital skills which collaborative lawyers and other professionals require in assisting their clients within the process. She lectures at Kingston University in Family Mediation/ADR, was a founder Governor of the UK College of Family Mediators and former Chair of the Family Mediators Association and sits on the board of a counselling service in south-west London.

Ruth Smallacombe, Family Law in Partnership
Covent Garden, London WC2E 8PS
[UK] 020 7420 5000 or rs@flip.co.uk