Molly Giles

Year of Call: 2005, Gray's Inn

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Molly specialises exclusively in family law relating to children. Molly is Tier 3 ranked in the Legal 500 UK Bar Rankings for 2024, 2025 and 2026 as a Leading Junior. 

Molly has nearly 20 years experience, having specialised in family law for most of her career. That experience, together with good judgement and very thorough preparation allows her to go the extra mile to get the best outcome possible in a case. 

Molly engages very empathetically with clients; she is personable and sympathetic in helping people deal with stressful and difficult proceedings. 

Molly is a determined problem-solver and considers it is important to work as a team with all her clients (both professional and lay clients) to achieve excellent outcomes. As such Molly is readily contactable to discuss and assist in the ongoing management of a case.

Children - Private Law

Molly is very experienced in disputes between parents in relation to their children, including in relation to child arrangements and specific issues such as education, health and foreign travel including international relocation. Molly has much experience in private law matters with more complex aspects for example, serious safeguarding issues, drugs and alcohol, domestic abuse, sexual and physical harm of both children and parents, alienating behaviours and child abduction. 

Molly has a wealth of experience in representing children in proceedings including with international elements and dealing with children giving evidence and who have been subject to serious harm, with her public law experience assisting in this task. Molly is experienced in resolving complex case management problems efficiently and effectively. 

Molly approaches each case with commitment, recognising that, particularly for parents in proceedings, the matter is likely to be a central feature of their lives. 

Children - Public Law

Molly regularly represents local authorities, parents, children and other family members and interveners in public law and adoption proceedings having experience in serious inflicted injuries, serious fabricated and induced illness, sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, child trafficking, deprivation of liberty, revocation of placement orders/opposing adoption orders and intercountry adoption. 

Molly is thorough and reliable in her presentation of cases for the Local Authority and on behalf of children, including producing high quality written work. 

Molly is empathetic and determined on behalf of parents and seeks to ensure that they have been heard and respected. 

"Molly is an incredibly robust and confident advocate and a real expert in complicated private children’s law matters. She can handle difficult clients exceptionally well. Her advocacy is exceptional, and her written work is equally fantastic.” 

Legal 500, 2024

'Molly is relentless in representing every client and her commitment always goes above and beyond and is quite frankly outstanding and inspiring. Her support to her leader is invaluable and brings novel insights and astounding levels of research to bear upon the client's case, and she is a passionate advocate who never loses sight of the court's focus.'

Legal 500 2026 (Leading Junior) (Family: children and domestic abuse)

Notable Cases

  • Re: L [2025]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a mother in proceedings concerning allegations that she had been subject to serious sexual harm, sexual coercion and serious physical harm. The fact-finding hearing involved very extensive electronic material and the treatment of intimate images. 

  • Re: J [2025]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a child with enhanced needs in proceedings concerning allegations of alienating behaviours and emotional harm and where the Guardian recommended a change of residence.

  • Re: W [2024]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a mother in proceedings concerning whether the children should be mainstream educated rather than home-educated, including issues about the validity of educational assessments obtained unilaterally by one of the parties, and consideration of the necessity of educational psychological assessment of the children given the special educational needs of one child.

  • Re: L [2023]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the child in proceedings which had involved litigation across three jurisdictions with a parent having unlawfully retained the child outside this jurisdiction. The matter involved a lengthy fact-finding hearing dealing with allegations of emotional harm towards the child and domestic abuse towards the mother.

  • Re: G [2023]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the child following a court approved relocation from Australia and where further dispute had arisen, including whether the child should receive various vaccinations including the Covid-19 vaccine, whether the mother and child had been subject to domestic abuse and emotional harm and whether the father’s parental responsibility should be limited. 

  • Re: F [2023]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a father in relation to whether and what form of contact could take place between him and his child in light of police investigations concerning his historical sexual offending.

  • Re: I [2022]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the child in the High Court where the child had been abducted to Pakistan.

  • Re: W [2022]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the child in the High Court where the child had been abducted to Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

  • Re: C [2022]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the child and provide advice in relation to jurisdiction of the court following a permitted relocation of a child to the Czech Republic and an application for a child arrangements order which pre-dated the act of relocation. This included consideration of the post-Brexit legal landscape and whether and how a request to the Czech authorities to transfer jurisdiction should be made.

  • Re: Children X [2022]

    Private Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the children, one of whom had significant additional needs, in proceedings concerning allegations of alienating behaviours, with a recommendation by the Children’s Guardian for a change of residence, which was opposed by an involved Local Authority.

  • A Local Authority v B [2025]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a mother in care proceedings. The fact-finding hearing related to serious sexual harm caused to one of the children and the mother’s protective functioning. 

  • A Local Authority v O [2025]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a purported father in care proceedings, led by Stefano Nuvoloni KC, before Mr Justice Cohen involving a child brought into the country from Nigeria in breach of immigration rules. Issues included whether there was any evidence of child trafficking, whether there had been a legitimate adoption or fostering arrangement in accordance with Nigerian law, whether the purported father held any form of parental responsibility for the child and exploration of the need for a culturally-appropriate assessment. “Border officers saw a couple behaving oddly with a baby - and uncovered a mystery 

    Link

  • A Local Authority v P [2024]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a father in care proceedings involving issues of alienating behaviours and emotional harm caused to the child, and defending allegations of serious sexual harm, harassment, coercion and control. 

  • A Local Authority v X [2024]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the children in proceedings concerning the adoption of children to New Zealand. 

  • A Local Authority v P [2023]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a Local Authority in the High Court in relation to an application for deprivation of liberty involving legal argument as to whether the child’s placement met the definition of a ‘children’s home’ pursuant section 1(2) of the Care Standards Act 2000, the legality of that placement and whether the placement was required to be registered with OFSTED as a children’s home or whether the placement was unregulated.

  • A Local Authority v B [2023]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a mother in care proceedings to provide representation and advice as to whether her former same-sex partner had any standing to intervene in the proceedings and whether they could be considered a parent or granted parental responsibility pursuant to HFEA 2008.

  • A Local Authority v M [2022]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the children in relation to an extensive fact-finding hearing concerning allegations of serious sexual harm towards the one of the children; the other parties represented by Queen’s Counsel. 

  • A Local Authority v Re: W [2022]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent the Local Authority and led in care proceedings concerning serious fabricated illness by a parent including the physical falsification of symptoms and years of unnecessary invasive medical intervention for the child.

  • A Local Authority v X [2022]

    Public Law Children

    Molly was instructed to represent a mother whose child had highly specialist medical needs, the issue in the case involving the mother’s ability to meet those needs and what support both mother and child required in order to allow them to be reunified. 

Appointments

  • Direct Access Accredited
  • Approved Pupil Supervisor

Professional Associations

  • The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn
  • Midland Circuit
  • Family Law Bar Association

Education

  • University of Durham Law LLB (Hons) 2:1
  • Nottingham Law School: Bar Vocational Course - Very Competent

Awards

  • Gray's Inn Scholarship - Steen Award

Articles by Molly