Effective Statement Writing in Children Proceedings - Bringing the Client’s Case to Life

On 20th October 2026, Isabel Hawkins, Consultant Barrister at Unit Chambers presented our first Back-to-School Unit Chambers seminar providing practical guidance on effective statement writing across both public and private children proceedings. You can watch the webinar recording here.

A well-drafted statement records client’s instruction. In children proceedings, it shapes the court’s understanding of the client, identifies the issues that require determination, and explains what outcome a parent seeks and why that outcome is workable and consistent with the child’s welfare.

Public Law Proceedings: Response to Threshold

Responses to threshold commonly describe individual allegations simply as “accepted”, “denied” or “partially accepted”. Although those labels assist the court, Isabel emphasised that they should not become a substitute for identifying precisely what the parent accepts. This is particularly important where several factual assertions have been amalgamated into a single threshold paragraph. A parent may accept one fact while disputing another, or accept the underlying conduct while denying that it caused, or was likely to cause, the harm alleged by the local authority.

Consider an allegation concerning drug use. A parent might accept that they have used drugs but the circumstances in which the drug-taking took place may differ from the position of the local authority. The factual admission does not necessarily amount to an acceptance of the local authority's case about the consequences of that conduct. Practitioners must take instructions on both the fact alleged and the harm said to flow from it. A carefully drafted response at the outset can avoid significant difficulties later, particularly where a broad admission is subsequently discovered not to reflect the client’s experience.

The Initial Statement: Introducing the Person Behind the Proceedings

The importance of a parent's initial statement in care proceedings should not be underestimated. It is an opportunity for the parent to explain their circumstances and perspective in their own words. Isabel encouraged practitioners to obtain a fuller picture of the client themselves: their background, childhood, education and experience of learning, health, and other relevant personal circumstances. Although some of this material may later be explored comprehensively within a parenting assessment, practitioners should not rely upon that process to tell their client's story for them.

That early stage is also important when identifying potential kinship carers. Where a parent identifies someone, their details should be provided to the local authority promptly and this step recorded within the statement. Doing so creates a clear record that the proposed carer was identified at an early stage by the client to the local authority, rather than leaving the issue to emerge when the proceedings are in full-swing where the court may not be amenable to submission for the local authority to undertake a viability assessment.

Tell the Court What Your Client Actually Wants

Practitioners must make the client's position unmistakably clear. Isabel suggested stating it at both the beginning and the end of the statement. The body can provide the evidence and reasoning supporting that position before the conclusion returns the reader to the outcome sought. However, identifying the outcome the parent wishes is not enough in and of itself. In private children proceedings, for example, a parent seeking a “live with” order should explain what the contact arrangement between parents would actually look like. What would happen during the ordinary school week? How would weekends operate? What arrangements are proposed for half-terms, Mother/Father’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, or Eid? How would the parents communicate? The important point is that the statement should confront the practicalities, rather than leaving counsel to formulate detailed proposals for the first time at the final hearing.

The same principle applies in public law proceedings. It is insufficient for a parent to state that they want their children rehabilitated to their care. The statement should address how that would happen: what work remains necessary, whether other support is proposed, how contact with the other parent might operate and, where appropriate, what the parent's alternative position is if their preferred outcome is not accepted.

Telling the Client’s Story

The need to preserve the client's voice becomes particularly important in private law proceedings involving allegations of domestic abuse. A formulaic account of individual incidents can fail to communicate the lived reality of an abusive relationship, especially where allegations concern coercive and controlling behaviour. Isabel emphasised the importance of explaining how events affected both the client and the children, rather than simply listing what happened. The statement may be the judge's first encounter with the client's experience, and consequently, it is the first opportunity to bring that experience to life.

The most serious incidents will plainly be important, but they may not tell the whole story. The everyday lived experience of the client and the children is essential to understanding the nature of the relationship. Isabel suggests that an effective statement can therefore follow the development of the relationship as a narrative while avoiding becoming a mechanical timeline.

Fact-Finding: Why Do the Allegations Need to Be Determined?

Where findings of fact are sought, another question should be addressed expressly: why does the court need to determine these allegations? Practitioners should identify the nexus between the allegations relied upon and any ongoing risk of harm to the children. Isabel noted that this reasoning is frequently missing from statements, despite its importance when arguing that a fact-finding hearing is necessary at court. A subheading dealing with why the allegations require determination can be effective here. It navigates the drafter to move beyond recounting behaviour and articulate its relevance to the decisions now before the court.

The Client's Voice

A statement should sound as though it belongs to the client. They should avoid unnecessary complication and use plain English which reflects the client's own vocabulary and understanding. However, preserving authenticity does not mean reproducing a client's draft without scrutiny. Isabel observes the statement remains a court document prepared with professional assistance. Grammar, structure, and presentation still matter. There is a balance to strike: the professional should improve the client's ability to communicate their evidence without replacing their voice.

Structure of Statements

The structure assists the court in understanding the client’s voice, story, and understanding the evidence they are presenting. Subheadings can make lengthy statements substantially easier to navigate and allow those who will have sight of the same to relocate an important passage. Practitioners must consider judges, advocates, the parties, any experts, the local authority, and anyone else who may have sight of this document when structuring their statements. Isabel also advocated the “power of three” when structuring important points: supporting a proposition sufficiently to demonstrate that it is not simply an assertion but one grounded in evidence.

Another practical point concerned supporting material. Practitioners often read statements that say, in effect, “I have screenshots if the court wishes to see them.” Where evidence is relevant and proportionate, Isabel’s advice was to attach it where appropriate or make an application to the court concerning this evidence, rather than merely referring to its existence.

The same discipline applies to schedules of allegations. Schedules should be chronological; allegations should be full rather than provide vague descriptions; evidence should be cross-referenced; the document should remain proportionate; and, importantly, the schedule should still help bring the client's story to life. The accompanying discussion described an effective schedule as a form of “one stop shop”, identifying the allegation, when it occurred, the category it falls into, and where the supporting evidence can be located within the bundle. Further, schedules should be treated as a developing document. Where other evidence is introduced into proceedings, such as police disclosure, this will require schedules to be updated to provide appropriate bundle references before trial.

Instructions to Advocacy

The central message from the seminar is that good statement writing is itself an exercise in advocacy. A good statement enables the court to understand who the client is, what happened, why it matters, what evidence supports their account, and what they are asking the court to do. This is particularly important in proceedings with complex personal and family histories. A statement can remain proportionate and professionally structured while still portraying the client’s experience through a person-centred lens. Isabel concluded the seminar with the value of an emotive, proportionate, narrative statement which brings the client's experience to life for the court and provides a coherent evidential foundation from which the case can be advanced.

For practitioners, that is perhaps the most useful drafting test of all: when the judge finishes reading the statement, do they know what your client says, or do they understand your client's case?

Isabel Hawkins is hosting two further Back-to-School seminars. She will be covering Client Care on Thursday 5th November from 5:30-6:30pm, and Case Preparation on Thursday 3rd December 5:30-6:30pm. Both sessions are free to attend and remote. Book your place here.