A PARTNER at Lynch & Co, Haema Sundram acted in the landmark High Court case Re D which recognised a “family unit” of a lesbian couple in awarding parental responsibility to the applicant donor father but limited his involvement in the child’s life.
What are the possible implications of this case? It emphasises the importance of the child’s primary family, which consists of the child, the child’s sibling and two mothers. The court carefully considered how a biological father’s role can be accommodated into a lesbian family without undermining the child’s two female parents who have the day-to-day care. The main challenge was in applying the law that had developed in relation to more traditional families to an increasingly common situation in which a father has a role to play, but which is not the same as that of a divorced or separated dad.
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What was your worst day as a lawyer? When I was just starting out I met a new client in hospital one afternoon to take his instructions and then completed his will. I knew he was terminally ill but it still came as a shock when I heard that he had died overnight. Less than 18 hours before he was joking, laughing and being generally charming. The enormity and seriousness of the career I was embarking on became crystal clear that day, so I think it was my worst day and my best day all rolled into one.
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What was your most memorable experience as a lawyer? I am proud to be in practice at a time when legislation as significant as the Civil Partnership Act has come into force. Having been involved in campaigning and the consultation process for this piece of legislation, its eventual arrival is a moment of real significance.
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Who has been the most influential person in your life and why? I would certainly pay tribute to all the strong assertive women I saw forging the way in the workplace as I was growing up. Also, being a child of the 1970s, I grew up on bad American television shows about cops and lawyers and I think (sadly) that may have had an influence.
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Why did you become a lawyer? I have always had an interest in human rights issues and this, coupled with a sense of fairness, led me to the law. I initially harboured intentions of becoming a journalist as I have always liked communicating with people, analysing and reasoning. I am lucky enough now to be able to utilise exactly those skills in my professional life.
Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? I hope I’m still working on interesting cases and trying to play a small role in making a difference to clients’ lives. In ten years civil partnership will be well established, but I hope that equality doesn’t mean civil partnership dissolutions equalling that of divorce rates.
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LINDA TSANG
l_tsang@hotmail.com