Lorita is the Director/Principal Solicitor at L J Collins Solicitors and has almost two decades of experience working in the legal profession. Lorita qualified as a solicitor in 2007 and has experience working in crime and family law (private and public law proceedings). She is an accredited children panel member which is a recognised quality standard for practitioners representing children in children law proceedings. She represents parties in cases through the Official Solicitor in family proceedings when parents lack capacity due to mental health needs or learning difficulties.

Lorita takes pleasure in supervising a friendly and dedicated team of solicitors, trainees and paralegals. The priority as a team is achieving the best possible outcomes for the children and families they represent. This at times means going above and beyond for clients as Lorita and her team recognise that child care proceedings and legal matters involving children are often exceptionally challenging for families.

The public law cases that Lorita works with involve a variety of complex issues such as neglect, physical/sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance misuse, mental illness, psychological conditions, mental capacity considerations, neurodiversity, non-accidental injuries and overlapping criminal matters. LJC understand the importance of cultural representation and staff speak additional languages including Bengali, Urdu and Turkish.

Some of the parents Lorita represents have experienced multiple traumatic events, so she adheres to trauma informed practices so as to reduce the likelihood of retraumatising the children and parents she represents. This is something that Lorita believes requires more focus and attention within the legal context, so she works closely with trauma specialists to enhance her understanding and the performance of the LJC team. Lorita recognises that trauma informed practice enables LJC staff to become more attuned to the needs of their clients and ultimately makes staff more effective advocates.

In conjunction with the trauma informed practice, the team have a special interest in supporting children and families with additional needs. As such, LJC work closely with specialist child psychologists to keep staff training, knowledge and understanding as current and up to date as possible. Lorita believes that the best way to achieve excellent outcomes for her clients is to continuously make efforts to develop and broaden her knowledge of the complex circumstances impacting the families she supports.