About Us - Emma Ries
Emma works with couples to find solutions to practical and legal problems at the start, as well as at the end, of their relationships.
You can contact her at er@familysolutions.uk or tel. +44 (0)20 3397 0499.
Emma has been a specialist family and divorce lawyer since 1998, a collaborative lawyer since 2004, an FMA trained mediator since 2012.
Previously a partner at central London firms Cumberland Ellis (now Wedlake Bell) and Kingsley Napley LLP, Emma set up her own firm in 2009.
Emma is experienced in dealing with complex financial matters for married and unmarried couples. She has been recognised as an Accredited Mediator by the Family Mediation Council and is qualified as a Child Inclusive Mediator.
Working with others
Emma has run the Central London POD since 2004. This is a group of family lawyers, mediators, therapists, IFAs, accountants and surveyors committed to working with separating couples to resolve financial problems and make arrangements for children in a constructive way.
From 2009 to 2020 Emma was part of Family Law Chambers, a group of specialist family lawyers and mediators with international expertise.
For many years Emma was a Trustee of One Plus One, a charity which works to help couples overcome difficulties in their relationships.
Changing the way we work
At the Royal Courts of Justice in 2006, Emma helped launched a London-wide group of collaborative professionals as part of the London Umbrella Group.
The group set out to provide ways for people to resolve family problems without expensive and stressful court proceedings and away from the damaging adversarial court system.
This was part of a movement for change in the capital, and nationwide that started many years before.
Over the last 20 years there has been a growing understanding of the damage that conflict and the adversarial court system does, and a move away from using the courts unless there is no other option. Family mediators and collaborative lawyers have been at the forefront of this work.
In 2026 the Government announced national changes to the way the courts will deal with arrangements for children - moving away from the adversarial court process, and with a greater focus on what children really need.
Emma is a supporter of and signatory to the
World Mediators Alliance on Climate Change (WoMACC)
Publications, lectures, and training
Emma has lectured, written articles, and commented in the press on family law both here and abroad. She has trained family lawyers, mediators and therapists, as well as arranged training by local and international specialists.
Emma was a member of the Resolution Publications Committee from 2009 to 2012. Resolution has published several precedent books on family law aimed at specialist family lawyers written by Emma and the other members of the Committee. Titles included Cohabitation Agreements and Consent Orders.
