Former council legal chief joins Lancashire law team

Nina Ellement, formerly head of legal at Cumbria County Council, has joined Vincents Solicitors' specialist childcare team within the firm’s family law department in Preston.

Prior to being appointed legal lead at Cumbria in 2020, Nina spent 15 years at St Helens Council working exclusively on childcare cases for the local authority and will now bring that experience to her work assisting families facing care proceedings via Vincents’ three Childcare Legal Aid contracts in Preston, Blackpool and Chorley.

Nina said: “I am excited to be back working directly with families and helping parents at risk of losing their children to access the support they need to turn their lives around.

"Unfortunately, people often don’t realise what is required of them once the council issues proceedings and many bury their heads in the sand. As our services are provided through Legal Aid, there really is no reason for parents not to seek our help.

“Our role involves more than just the legal aspects, it’s practical support and advice about how to engage with the drug and alcohol and mental health services which are provided to help them improve their ability to parent their child safely.

“Having worked on both sides of these cases I’ve seen the most successful outcomes for children and their families are when there’s good legal advice from the outset, from the moment the council notifies parents about pre-proceedings.

“I missed being hands-on in my previous role and was thrilled when Vincents offered me a position to get back to doing what I love. Every single case is different and I am absolutely delighted to have the chance to make a difference, help families stay together, and to work with this incredible team here at Vincents.”

Vincents Solicitors is just one of a limited number of firms to hold Childcare Legal Aid contracts in Lancashire, allowing them to support families in care cases going through the courts in Preston, Blackpool and Chorley.

Mark Mosley, head of the family law department at Vincents Solicitors, said: “Nina is an extremely knowledgeable and compassionate childcare legal practitioner whose expertise in this field is second to none. Her in-depth local authority experience will provide great benefit to our family clients and she is an extremely welcome addition to our growing childcare team.”