Martin Todd
Year of call: 1991
areas of practice
synopsis
Martin is a specialist Family Practitioner predominantly conducting serious Public Law Child Care cases and high conflict Private Law disputes at all court levels, along with Adoption and Abduction cases.
He appears regularly on all sides of disputes, acting both for parents / family members and Local Authority or Guardian.
Martin has developed a highly specialist practice particularly in cases involving allegations of serious non accidental injury with complex medical issues. These include multiple fracture cases, serious head injury cases and alleged sexual abuse.
Further he has recent experience of cases involving Autism / Autistic spectrum disorder, Abnormal illness behaviour, Fragile X and Fragile X pre-mutation and poisoning.
He is committed, in a world of changing medical knowledge, to ‘leaving no stone unturned’ in the representation of his clients.
He regularly conducts cases of significant length (10 days or more) and most recently on behalf of a Local Authority for 6 weeks and a father for many weeks.
Martin is a committee member of the regional Family Law Bar Association.
Martin lived in the USA and practised there (in a Chicago Law firm) briefly under a Pegasus scholarship from the Inner Temple following his call to the Bar. He retains links to the USA and The American Bar Association.
notable cases
- CL v East Riding of Yorkshire, MB and BL ( A child) [ 2006] : EWCA Civ 49
- Re C ( A Child) v XYZ County Council [2007] : EWCA Civ 1206 [ 2008] 1 FLR 1294
- De D 2008 : unreported Court of Appeal Case (McKenzie Friend and appeal against Care and Placement orders)
- Re L (2011 - unreported) : contact application by father who was convicted of murdering Mother (High Court)
education
- Bootham School York - (1979-86)
- Parkway West Highschool, Missouri, USA - (1987)
- LLB (Hons) Degree at University of Northumbria - to 1990
- Inns of Court School of Law 1990-91
memberships
- Member of the Leeds and West Yorkshire Medico-Legal Society.
other information
- Martin was born in 1968 in Switzerland, and grew up in Munich, Germany. He is bilingual and has used his German in a number of cases to assist clients who have felt misunderstood or disadvantaged. Martin is married to a local Family Law Solicitor and they have a young family.
- Martin is a keen motor sports enthusiast, competing until 2007 in the then Lodge Sports 924 Porsche Challenge, but participating now only as a spectator. He is well travelled
- and enjoys sub aqua diving whilst abroad.
