Fiona slomovic

[KateGrey]

Has anyone used her?

We are taking our school to the first tier Sen tribunal for failure to make reasonable adjustments. We started using a solicitor (have already paid out 5k) and solicitor is now saying it’ll be another £10-15k from here so that’s reading the response of the school and preparing our hearing bundle despite having seen all the evidence. This is causing a lot of conflict with my husband. Who is adamant he wants to do it but given his lack of organisation skill and how uninvolved he is I just don’t want to and I don’t feel I can do it myself either. So I thought Fiona might be a good option.

Can anyone share their experience please. I know she’s not a solicitor.

I haven’t used Fiona Solomonic myself - though she was recommended to me some years ago (about 4?) when I was appealing to get an EHCP for my DD. (The LA conceded early on so the appeal was withdrawn.)

I have taken my DS’s school to the SEN tribunal for failure to make reasonable adjustments. We (DH and I) represented ourselves. I do have a legal background though I haven’t practised as a solicitor - but education law was entirely new to me. It was tough going especially because we were obviously emotionally involved.

We did ‘win’ in that the school were found to have failed to make reasonable adjustments BUT the remedies were/are limited. The school were ordered to apologise and to train staff and to improve record keeping and monitoring etc.

In reality the damage to DS’s education couldn’t be put right. In our case, because of the impending Tribunal the school did agree to give DS an ‘extra’ year of education (he was in sixth form) but he was only there as a ‘visitor’ and not on the school roll which meant he got no SEN support.

So I would think very carefully about what the Tribunal could achieve in terms of remedies - against what it will cost you financially and emotionally.

I used Fiona for a refusal to assess appeal and she was very good. I am also from a legal background but don’t know education law. She was able to cite the relevant precedents and the LA withdrew before a tribunal. So a recommendation from me. One thing to be aware of is that she doesn’t respond much to emails, but that isn’t a reason to worry.

Thanks both. I know we’re unlikely to get much from the tribunal, I suppose it’s more a sense of justice. Or at least being acknowledged that the school did something wrong. We’ve used a solicitor up until now which has already cost us 5k and is now saying it’ll be another 10-15k which seems eye-watering. Husband wants us to do the rest ourselves but he’s not the most organised and I don’t think it would go well. So I wonder if Fiona might be a good alternative. Our previous solicitor wasn’t great at emailing so it doesn’t worry me too much.

Was extremely happy with what Fiona did for us. Didn't end up at tribunal thanks to her. If your LA have dealt with her before then just seeing her name on letters can put the wind up them as she does know her stuff. Our LA suddenly became much more Co operative and things were suddenly available that had previously been refused..

Does anyone know Fiona's fees as we are in a similar situation to OP and looking at options for support during appeal/tribunal? Thanks

All of her fee structure is available on her website. Fiona slomovic advocacy and mediation into Google and it will pop up

Thanks

She has a good reputation and keeps her fees low by leaving parents to do a lot of the legwork and organisation. She is very busy indeed and some people complain that it's difficult to get hold of her because she spends a lot of time in tribunal hearings and at meetings etc.

She has her fees on her website. Google advocacy and mediation with her name and you will find it. I used her and would definitely recommend. She is v busy and isnt someone who will hold your hand and be available for long chats but I could always speak to her if I made an appointment with her admin assistant. She is very experienced and also good at dealing with LA. I think I spent about 3k on the tribunal and prep of paperwork.

I have also just reread your op. Think carefully about what your desired outcome is. One thing that I liked about Fiona was her honesty. If she thinks you are wasting your time she will probably tell you. We won our case but she was very able to see the strengths and weaknesses of our case.

I spoke with her and she was very honest. I knew to be honest a lot of what she was saying in terms of outcome etc but feel it’s important to go through with this. She’s going to take a look at my papers for me and go from there.

Hi
Has anyone considered an alternative to Fiona?
I have also been recommended Ruth Bright from Bright Futures Consultancy - has anyone used her and have any feedback?
Thanks .

Thanks for the recommendations all. We ended up using Fiona and so far so good. We did take on board her comments that it could get messy but feel our school need to be held to account for how they treat my son. He is still suffering from huge anxiety. But we hope this goes some way to ensuring this never happens to anyone else.

Just wondering how you are getting on. I am at the start of the process as the LA failed to award a plan after assessment.

Fiona was recommended to me too.

You don't necessarily need an advocate for an appeal against refusal to assess, as the appeal will be dealt with on the basis of the papers. There's information here - www.ipsea.org.uk/refusal-to-assess-appeals