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Karen Barham

Consultant | | Family

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About Karen

I describe myself as a peacemaker and a deal broker. I joined Moore Barlow LLP (formerly Barlow Robbins LLP) in 2006 bringing considerable knowledge and experience as a family lawyer, having specialised in this area for over 35 years.

I practise exclusively as a mediator and parenting coordinator assisting couples and families when relationships break down. I grasp the issues quickly and have a high success rate. I am experienced in making arrangements for children and resolving financial aspects. Also qualified in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM), I am qualified to meet separately with children and young people to ascertain their thoughts and views thereby giving them an opportunity to have a voice.

I have served on the boards of the Family Mediation Council and Resolution and continue to sit on Resolution’s Dispute Resolution Committee. In 2016 I was awarded the Resolution John Cornwell award ‘in recognition of outstanding work to support separating families’. In 2023 I was honoured to be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from Surrey Law Society, having been its Family Lawyer of the Year in 2021.

Many families can be assisted to find solutions in out-of-court processes including mediation, collaborative law, early neutral evaluation, private FDRs, arbitration and parenting coordination. Accordingly, I pioneered The Surrey Initiative following which I was invited to join the Family Solutions Group and the Family Procedure Rule Committee Working Group tasked with strengthening non-court dispute resolution. I am delighted to have contributed to the change of the Family Procedure Rules of April 2024.

I am divorced with a son in his mid-twenties. Football is my big passion. I am involved in grassroots youth football as Child Welfare Officer at Milford Pumas Youth FC and follow QPR and England home and away.

Specialisms

  • Mediation
  • Parenting coordination

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Karen’s accreditations

Don’t take our word for it…

Karen Barham is an imaginative and brilliant mediator bringing a real talent to solving difficult and challenging family breakdowns. She has a real knack of taking clients with her. Technically brilliant with a fine attention to detail. Charismatic and persuasive mediator. A tremendous lateral thinker. Extremely good at negotiation. Always popular with clients.

Legal 500, 2025

Karen Barham is in my view one of the best mediators in the country. She is quite simply brilliant and is a leading light in the legal community both locally in Surrey and nationwide.

Legal 500, 2025

Karen Barham has phenomenal energy and is passionate about mediation. She has experience in dealing with the most difficult of cases and is a child-inclusive mediator. There is a plain honesty in her manner and she exudes confidence.

Legal 500, 2025

Karen is one of the best mediators in the country.

Chambers and Partners, 2025

Her real strength is in her communication skills, which are exemplary. She marries empathy and understanding with a no-nonsense approach and all delivered in language accessible to the clients and with a great sense of humour.

Chambers and Partners, 2024

Karen Barham is the real deal – an incredibly skilled mediator, has seen every case before and brings a wealth of experience, acumen and common sense to her work

Legal 500, 2024

Karen Barham is an excellent, highly experienced and hands-on mediator. She gets to the heart of the matter very quickly, and clients have reported to me that she works very hard to achieve solutions. She is empathetic and hugely practical.

Legal 500, 2024

Karen Barham- she is equipped with humour, staying power, wisdom, experience, authority but she also engages at a deep level and I think ensures that people feel properly understood. I have sent her some truly monstrous cases for resolution and they keep bobbing to the surface!

Legal 500, 2024

Karen Barham is very experienced, endlessly helpful and flexible and innovative in her mediation practice. She is also a delightful person.

Legal 500, 2023

Karen Barham is a stand-out mediator, collaborative lawyer and member of Resolution, wholly committed to the code of practice, and a valued and very experienced family lawyer. Having now dealt with her in a hybrid mediation, I am impressed by her legal knowledge, ability, communication and sheer hard work. She uses some innovative strategies. Mastering Zoom for a hybrid 5 way mediation cannot have been fun.

Legal 500, 2021

Karen Barham is without doubt the ‘go to’ mediator in the area. Her skill and experience is unrivalled, particularly when dealing with challenging and difficult circumstances. She is more than a safe pair of hands, clients warm to her and she gets the job done.

Legal 500, 2021

Karen Barham stands out as a top quality mediator. She has a style that encourages dialogue and understanding. Karen is particularly good at dealing with separating cohabiting couples. Her knowledge of family law is extensive and she takes a proactive approach to assisting mediation clients resolve issues.

Legal 500, 2020

Explore Karen’s latest articles

Moore Barlow’s Karen Barham named as a finalist in the LexisNexis Family Law Awards

Karen Barham

Consultant

Inevitable move to compulsory NCDR if the new Family Procedure Rules fail to divert cases away from the court 

Karen Barham

Consultant

Reframing-Support-for-Families-following-Parental-Separation

“What about me?” – Reframing Support for Families following Parental Separation

Karen Barham

Consultant