Jessica Johnston

Jess is a qualified solicitor and has spent the past decade specialising in children public law within private practice and the voluntary sector. She trained at a large London legal aid firm, before practising at Goodman Ray where her practice included a particular focus on representing parents in care proceedings. She also held an interest in the intricacies of adoption law and practice.

Jess joined Family Rights Group as a legal advisor in 2019 and leads the charity’s legal work relating to family group conferences and the groundbreaking Lifelong Links approach. Jessica regularly designs and delivers public legal education, promoting multi-disciplinary learning at local family justice area level. Since summer 2023, Jess has delivered learning opportunities to over 700 lawyers, social workers and the judiciary about how family group conferences (FGCs) and the legal framework may help families take a lead in creating safe plans for their children.

Jessica has an interest in adoption law, including the interface of local authority and regional adoption agencies, children’s access to adoption records and post-adoption relationships/contact. She provides legal expertise to support the charity’s work to develop Lifelong Links for the adopted children – so that children may be better supported to maintain relationships with their birth family.

Jessica is the charity’s first training principal for trainee solicitors, having taken a key role in establishing Family Rights Group as a host organisation for the Legal Education Foundation’s Justice First Fellowship. As well as overseeing solicitor training, Jessica supports trainees to develop specialist projects, the most recent providing a deep dive into the legal needs of care-experienced young parents.