Hilka specialises in international and domestic adoptions and surrogacy, and all aspects of international and domestic children law, including the international movement of children, abductions, jurisdictional disputes, and complex care proceedings, often involving the most serious allegations of sexual abuse, non-accidental injuries, factitious illness and radicalisation. She is ranked in legal directories as a ‘Next Generation Partner’ and noted ‘for her knowledge of international adoption and surrogacy issues’ and ‘razor sharp mind’.
Throughout her career, Hilka has practiced children and family law. She joined Freemans from a specialist family law firm in 2016 and became a Partner in 2018.
Hilka is on the Law Society’s Children Panel which means that she has had specialist training to represent children in court proceedings, either directly or through their children’s guardian. She is a member of the Association of Lawyers for Children, Coram BAAF – the British adoption and fostering organisation, the Child Abduction Lawyers’ Association, Resolution and is a Resolution accredited adoption and child abduction specialist. Hilka was also one of the co-authors of Resolution’s response to the Law Commission’s consultation on proposed changes to the current surrogacy law.
Hilka won the prestigious Jordan’s Family Law Associate of the Year award in 2015 and has continuously been ranked and recommended in all of the main legal directories. Legal 500 have described her as ‘excellent” and undertaking ‘complex international adoption cases with ease’ (2017/18) and ‘what she doesn’t know about this subject isn’t worth knowing’ (2018/19). This year, Hilka has been described as ‘an outstanding lawyer with an exceptional grasp of international adoption issues from a family law perspective’. Chambers and Partners recommend her as a ‘superb lawyer whose particular skill is her ability to represent children’ (2018), that “she is tactical in her approach but never loses sight of what is important to the people she is representing.” (2017), ‘incredibly rigorous and hard-working” and ‘her ability to absorb information is superb.’ (2019)
When not at work, Hilka enjoys spending time with family and friends, a good meal, the theatre, playing the piano and travel; and, time and inclination permitting, keeping fit through boxing and yoga.
Hilka is bi-lingual English/German, speaks French and some Russian.
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