The Team
Ian Downing
Ian Downing has more than 20 years experience as a family law solicitor.
Described by Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession as "a first rate family law practitioner" and included in their list of leading practitioners in the South West region, Ian was a Partner in a leading West Country practice before setting up his specialist family law practice in 1997.
Ian is a member and past Chairman of the Devon and Cornwall area of Resolution, the national organisation of family lawyers. He is an Accredited Specialist with Resolution in the areas of Pensions and Cohabitation.
As well as advising clients, Ian also lectures to other family lawyers, and has also contributed to various specialist family law publications.
John Hind
John is an experienced family law solicitor. He has spent a many years in the family law department of a number of large commercial firms specialising in helping clients with the financial effects of marriage and relationship breakdown. He also spends some of his time lecturing to other solicitors in this area of of law and in particular pensions and family law.
He is an Accredited Specialist on the Law Society family law panel and currently chairs Devon Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association) whose members include many highly respected Devon Family Solicitors.
John is also a Family Mediator and member of the UK College of Mediators. He has been actively mediating financial and children cases for many years and is on the Resolution specialist family mediation panel as well as accredited by the Legal Services Commission.
He has also trained as Collaborative lawyer recognising that clients often want to choose the way they resolve disputes that arise. As such he is currently the only family lawyer in Plymouth who is a mediator, collaborative lawyer and litigator and therefore able to offer clients these alternatives.
Please read our information page for the main differences between Mediation, Collaborative practice and Litigation.