Ruth Smallacombe

Ruth Smallacombe

Senior Accredited Mediator and Counsellor

Ruth is a senior accredited mediator and counsellor, practice consultant and trainer of mediators, lawyers and therapists. She has over 30 years’ experience in family, mental health and human relations, both in the public and private sectors.

Ruth’s expertise covers the full spectrum of family issues ranging from divorce and separation (including finance and housing matters) to children matters (including residence and contact issues, international relocation of children and schooling) and mediation in relation to pre and post nuptial agreements, civil partnership and cohabitation agreements.

She offers preparation and support to couples about to embark on mediation with other firms or court proceedings. Ruth also acts as a family consultant and sees clients in conjunction with her lawyer colleagues, including collaborative lawyers, where she offers consultation on child related, emotional and psychological aspects of divorce and separation. Ruth is an experienced counsellor with a depth and breadth of knowledge in this field and can offer couple counselling, when appropriate.

Ruth’s clients include individuals, couples (including same sex couples), family members in dispute and children and young people, whom she sees either as part of their parent’s mediation process or for one to one counselling sessions.

Ruth has been ranked as a leading family mediator by The Legal 500 UK for many years. The 2020 edition notes that Ruth is one of “the stand out mediators in the firm…with vast experience and… a high level of referral work from the “Magic Circle” firms”. Previous editions have noted that Ruth is “calm and compassionate, and brings her extensive experience from the counselling and therapeutic world to her practice as a mediator”. She is “valued for her understanding that “solutions to family legal, financial and parenting issues are not found within the remit of the courtroom but rather through conversations and constructive engagement””. She has “a vast range of skills, expertise and experience.”

Many of Ruth’s referrals come from some of the best family lawyers and she is well known for her listening skills and her pragmatic and sensible approach to the resolution of relationship issues. Her track record of getting to lasting agreements and enabling couples to have good post separation relationships is second to none.

As a founder member of Family Law in Partnership, Ruth maintains a high profile in the mediation, collaborative and counselling fields. Ruth is a former chair and board member of the Family Mediators Association. She has sat on a number of professional committees, including the Voice of the Child Advisory Committee, and is involved in lecturing, charity work and further developing interdisciplinary co-operation for the benefit of families.

To view Ruth’s FLiP Profile, click here.

Awards

Ruth has been ranked as a leading family mediator by The Legal 500 UK for many years.

Accreditations

Ruth is a former chair and board member of the Family Mediators Association.

She has sat on a number of professional committees, including the Voice of the Child Advisory Committee.

Rankings