Meet Our Team

Married for over 20 years, previously divorced, with two grown up children, I have been in practice as a Divorce Lawyer since 1985.

Family law was always the area I wanted to practice in and whilst during my training I spent periods in Civil Litigation and in Criminal Law, these did not dissuade me from my first choice of practising in Family Law.

Fascinated by the way that social policy and the law interact, and how they are so often intertwined, I began my career in a large Birmingham practice that dealt solely with matrimonial matters. I became a confident advocate there and trained with one of the best.

I moved from Birmingham to Nottingham in 1989 where I was appointed Solicitor then Partner in City Centre practice (Massers) where I remained for thirteen years as the Family Law partner at Nottingham office and criminal law duty solicitor.

The breakdown of my own marriage led me to resigning that Partnership and moving nearer to home to care as a sole parent for the two young children of the family aged 6 and 2 years at that time.

I worked as a Consultant for three years in a 2 partner practice firm in Southwell, before moving into Newark in 2005.

I was Co Chair of the East Midlands branch of Resolution, the Family Lawyer’s Association, for over 10 years, represented Sole Practitioners and Resolution on the Nottinghamshire Law Society Council for 8 years and was an active member of Newark, Southwell and Bingham business clubs.

I trained as a Mediator in 1998 and obtained my Accreditation in May 2001. I have now been mediating for over 25 years and a practising solicitor for nearly 40 years. I have seen much change in the legal system and non court based solutions in that time.

In 2010 at the age of 50, I set up my own practice, Gouldingays Family Law and Mediation, and the practice incorporated in 2014.

I am passionate about supporting people to make their own decisions about significant issues that can affect the direction and tone of the rest of their lives.

Knowledge is power in such situations and being appraised of the available options can help clients make decisions on their own terms and in their own time.

I continue to be fascinated by changes in the law to meet the ever-changing social needs of society, though I am frustrated by the level of delay and inadequacies in today’s Court system and (sometimes) lack of access to justice for some people.  This has made Non-Court Dispute Resolution options such as mediation more attractive.  These solutions are increasingly quicker, cheaper, and easier to resolve. The introduction of the Government’s Voucher Scheme to help ( primarily ) in child focused disputes has helped oil the wheels on that front. Above all, particularly in child focused disputes, these options make it easier to maintain important lines of communication between parents for the benefit of their children.

In an increasingly complex world, driven by constant change, where AI, social media and digital communication drive ‘progress’ – human interaction, concessions and cooperation can still generate progress and positive outcomes far more quickly and successfully – that is why our preference at Gouldingays is face to face meetings in both legal work and mediation, wherever possible.

We continue to offer help and guidance both sides of the divide, in court based, as well as non court-based solutions. Every one of us is an individual with individual preferences about resolving their own conflict and their own story. Every family is unique.

It is our privilege to try and help you to reach a solution that best serves your interests and that of your family.

Married with two grown up children and two grandchildren Maria is supportive, accommodating and always has the client’s best interests at heart. She is  attentative and client focused in every sense.

Maria has worked for over 25 years in support roles within Family Law. She has worked with Wendy for 18 out of those 25 years,

She has seen the very many changes implemented in Family law over that time; the demise of legal aid funding, the evolution of divorce and the change in the grounds to one of no fault divorce, the move to the online portal, together with the implementation of the Financial Remedy Efficiency statement and the financial portal, the rise in Mediation ( that Wendy and the practice have always embraced, but never more so than today, with the move to non court based solutions progressively becoming the norm).

A good listener and always attentative to client’s needs Maria’s role is pivotal within the practice, as she is often the first point of contact for new clients. She also provides invaluable, admin support to Wendy, acting as her PA.

Fiona has been with the practice for 8 years. Originally from New Zealand where she typed for the judges in the District & Family Court, thence as a Judge’s Associate in the High Court, she is amazingly quick, efficient and accurate. Fiona has also worked within Children’s Services  within the Local Authority in England and Wales.

She is an avid tennis player, and a huge supporter of a local tennis club. Married with 3 grown up children, she is also an accomplished cook and seamstress.

Fiona manages the ever growing mediation enquiries and coordinates all of the appointments and MIAMs including the provision of certificates, where either mediation does not proceed or breaks down.

She is pivotal to the practice in addressing the ever growing needs of mediation clients and has endless patience in coordinating both parties’ needs in the mediation setting, often fielding copious amounts of documentation and disclosure, emails and texts in order to ensure that Wendy’s neutrality in the process is not compromised in any way. She is a fantastic administrator.