Natalie Sutherland

Partner

Natalie Sutherland qualified as a solicitor in 2006 and heads the firm’s Modern Families Department where she deals with:

  • International and domestic surrogacy arrangements, advising Intended Parents and Surrogates;
  • Child arrangements where a surrogacy arrangement has broken down;
  • Assisted reproductive technology law;
  • Donor conception including advising on legal parentage and known donor agreements;
  • Platonic co-parenting including advising on co-parenting agreements;
  • Embryo disposition;
  • Posthumous conception;
  • Advising LGBTQ+ parents and single parents by choice; and
  • Declarations of parentage.

In addition to her experience in the above, Natalie advises on the whole spectrum of family law issues, including;

  • Divorce and dissolution of Civil Partnerships;
  • International cases including domicile and jurisdiction disputes;
  • Financial remedy applications;
  • Private law child arrangements matters;
  • International and domestic leave to remove disputes;
  • Cases involving allegations of controlling and coercive behaviour and narcissistic personality disorder;
  • Cases involving allegations of parental alienation;
  • Cases involving vulnerable clients;
  • Vaccination disputes relating to children, including the Covid vaccination;
  • Cohabitation claims for unmarried couples;
  • Schedule 1 (money) applications for children;
  • Pre and post nuptial agreements;
  • Variation of maintenance applications;
  • Freezing injunctions; and
  • Family Law Act applications relating to domestic abuse or occupation of the family home.

Natalie started out her career at boutique family law firm, Levison Meltzer Pigott, where she spent 9 years working directly with one of the founders dealing with high and ultra high net worth clients and matters with complex legal issues.

Prior to joining Burgess Mee, Natalie was Head of the Family Department at a firm in the City which is well known for their work in surrogacy and fertility law as well as LGBTQ+ issues.

Equally comfortable litigating and negotiating, Natalie relishes the challenge of finding creative and cost-effective solutions for her clients.

Reported cases:

Re X (Catastrophic Injury: Collection and Storage of Sperm) [2022] EWCOP 48 (16 November 2022)

SA v FA [2022] EWFC 115 (9 September 2022)

P v Q [2022] EWFC B9 (10 February 2022)

G v G [2012] EWHC 167 (Fam) (24 February 2012)

Awards:

Natalie was Highly Commended in the Partner of the Year category in the LexisNexis Family Law Awards 2022.

Natalie and Somaya Ouazzani of Mimoza Fleur were Highly Commended in the Innovation of the Year category for their work with In/Fertility in the City.

Natalie has also received the following award individual nominations:

National Surrogacy Awards 2022: Surrogacy Professional of the Year

Women & Diversity in Law Awards 2023: Law Firm Leader of the Year, Woman of the Year and Innovator of the Year.

The Great British Workplace Wellbeing Awards 2023: Most Inspiring Employee of the Year

And for In/Fertility in the City Natalie has received the following award nominations:

Women & Diversity in Law Awards 2023: Mental Health and Wellbeing Initiative of the Year, Gender Equality Initiative of the Year and Age and Life Stage Initiative of the Year.

Resolution:

Natalie is a Resolution accredited specialist in children law and complex higher income financial remedies and is a member of the Children and London Region Committees where she regularly arranges know-how and social events for members.

In/Fertility in the City:

Natalie is passionate about opening up the conversation around fertility issues in the workplace. This passion led her to co-founding In/Fertility in the City, a movement borne of the need for radical change: a complete culture shift in all workplaces that better supports the millions of men and women around the world who are struggling with infertility whilst navigating professional careers. 

Natalie co-organised two in-person panel events in December 2020 and July 2021 and now co-hosts a podcast of the same name, dedicated to exploring the complex relationship between in/fertility and work and how to manage this effectively.

Policy and law reform:

Natalie is also passionate about law reform and is assisting Nickie Aiken MP with her private members bill, Fertility Treatment (Employment Rights) Bill, and her Fertility Workplace Pledge.

Fertility Officer and Fertility Friendly Employer:

In September 2021, Natalie was appointed as Burgess Mee’s Fertility Officer. The role was created in order to support our employees experiencing fertility issues and, importantly, signals to the employees that Burgess Mee is a firm which not only supports their staff in their career building aspirations, but in their family building aspirations too.

Following on from her appointment, the firm underwent training with Fertility Matters at Work and in November 2022, were the first company in the UK to become ‘Fertility Friendly’ accredited.

Trusteeship:

Natalie is a member of the Board of Trustees of Progress Educational Trust, a charity which advances public understanding of science, law and ethics in the fields of human genetics, assisted reproduction, embryology and stem cell research. 

Speaking, writing, webinars and podcasts:

Natalie is an accomplished and in demand speaker where she gives talks on all aspects of modern family law and relating to the work she does around fertility in the workplace.

Natalie regularly authors articles on surrogacy, fertility law and posthumous conception.

In addition to co-hosting her own podcast, Natalie regularly appears as a guest on many other podcasts discussing modern family law and fertility in the workplace.

Links to these articles and podcasts can be found in the opposite box.

Modern Family Law Networking Pod:

Natalie founded a networking Pod of family lawyers all specialising in modern family law, which includes barristers from the top London chambers and solicitors from the major London law firms. The objective of the Pod is to strengthen relationships with other firms/chambers, promoting community over competition so that lawyers can learn from each other’s expertise for the benefit of their own clients and to refer work to a network of trusted and knowledgeable professionals.

In the media:

Natalie’s appointment as the firm’s Fertility Officer received considerable press attention. She was featured in The Mail on Sunday, The Times, Times2, The New Statesman, The Financial Times and CityAM.

Natalie was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour by Emma Barnett, and appeared on TalkRadio with Trisha Goddard, Times Radio with John Pienaar and Newstalk Radio in Ireland.

Directories:

Natalie is recognised in the Legal 500 as a Next Generation Partner.

Testimonials from the 2023 edition include:

‘Natalie Sutherland is a calm and experienced practical solicitor who has a proactive problem solving attitude rather some cost building firms in the market place who can exacerbate issues unnecessarily’.

Natalie Sutherland is a stand-out individual. She has excellent knowledge of the law surrounding modern families and fertility issues. She started a ‘Modern Families Pod’, which involves a number of barristers and solicitors (from various chambers and firms), who have expertise in this area. As a member of the pod myself, I can vouch for Natalie’s knowledge and tenacity in this complex area.’

Testimonials from the 2022 edition include:

“Natalie was the solicitor in charge of our case which was a very complicated and emotional surrogacy dispute that was quickly moved to the High Court. She and her team were phenomenal in handling our case. She knew surrogacy law inside/out and worked tirelessly to get the outcome that we needed”

“Natalie Sutherland – knowledgeable, proficient and an excellent lawyer”

Client testimonials:

"Natalie has acted as our lead solicitor during the last 12 months. Our case has been a very protracted and complicated surrogacy dispute which has resulted in significant emotional stress. Throughout this time Natalie has been an incredible support to us, it really was comforting to know that we had such a caring and professional solicitor on our side. Natalie's knowledge and expertise in Surrogacy law is second to none, as are her contacts and connections in this area of family law. Natalie's strategic thinking has made our case far easier to navigate that it might otherwise have been and we are extremely grateful for her dedication, hard work and most of all for believing in our family. We take immense comfort from knowing that we have had the very best legal advice from an outstanding lawyer."

"Natalie has bucketloads of professionalism, knowledge and empathy in matters of international surrogacy. Considering how emotionally draining these court proceedings could get, Natalie always presented us with a sense of calm and clarity on the way forward. Natalie's expertise in the field is impressive, and her dedication to clients is second to none. We found an honest and reliable ally in her. Natalie's reputation in the industry speaks volumes about her abilities, and we count ourselves lucky to have had the opportunity to work with her."

“After you and your colleagues helped put a co-parenting agreement in place for me and my friend we were very lucky to welcome our daughter to the world. Thanks so much for your support on this - I appreciate it so much.”

"Natalie is approachable, friendly and has a no nonsense attitude”

“Natalie was always available to answer our numerous questions and gave us clear, knowledgeable answers and advice. We were incredibly impressed that Natalie was able to see aspects of our case that we were blind to - being in the middle of it. Natalie immersed herself in our case and she knew it inside and out. She worked tirelessly to ensure we had the opportunity for the best outcome possible”

“Thanks for your exemplary work and remarkable dedication… You have my heartfelt thanks and total respect for delivering a first-class service”

"[It is] a pleasure to recommend [Natalie, Leora and the] firm and I'll always appreciate your contribution to creating security and a stable financial foundation for [my daughter]."

I want to thank you for all your efforts and to express my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for your highly professional and competent approach, always friendly and accessible, showing patience and understanding.”

Social Media:

Natalie runs a popular Instagram account @themodernfamilylawyer and can be found on Facebook as @themodernfamilylawyer, on Twitter as @NatalieS_lawyer and on LinkedIn.

Interests:

Natalie is married with a daughter. She is proud of her Welsh roots.

Outside of work Natalie enjoys Peloton, Politics and Podcasts. She is currently enjoying listening to The Rest is Politics, Americast, Ukrainecast, The News Agents, BFN, The Worst Girl Gang Ever, Professionally Embarrassing and Modern Love.