Our Committees in 2024

Cohabitation Committee

In 2024, the committee was delighted to get the Government’s ear on cohabitation reform, to the extent that they have publicly confirmed an intention to publish a consultation prior to legislation later this year.

The committee also delivered a well-received workshop at National Conference explaining different models of cohabitation reform.

The committee will continue to discuss and advise on policy with a view to assisting the Government achieve its manifesto pledge for cohabitation reform and will shortly be publishing a new Cohabitation Law Handbook.

In 2025, the committee will continue to promote best practice in family law for cohabitation, for example by educating how cohabitation law reform could assist with NCDR and reducing domestic abuse.

Collaborative Practice Working Party

The Collaborative Practice Working Party (CPWP) was proud to see its refreshed Collaborative Practice Foundation Training courses take place face-to-face in London and Birmingham, further adding to the number of collaboratively trained professionals in the UK.

This was the first time a regional foundation training course had taken place and we are grateful particularly to our former co-chair, Ian Hawkins for the hard work that went into arranging this.

There are currently further requests to the CPWP for foundation training in other regions of the country and it is very heartening to know that there is widespread enthusiasm for working collaboratively.

The committee also hosted online Collaborative Practice Forums in March and September.  These bring together collaborative practitioners from across the UK and feature a range of inspiring and expert presenters and panels.

A priority for the CPWP this year has been to link up collaborative PODs across the UK to help them re-energise their working groups in practical ways.  We now have an up-to-date database of POD chairs and contacts and have started communicating with them by email on a quarterly basis.

Dispute Resolution Committee

The committee extended heartfelt thanks to Dave Emmerson for his outstanding leadership over eight years as Chair and welcomed Elaine Richardson and Tristan Harvey as newly elected co-chairs. Eight new members joined during the year, bringing the committee’s total membership to 30. The late Jane Wilson was remembered with gratitude for her exceptional service and lasting contributions.

Members engaged with the YRes conference, with continued collaboration and support planned.

The committee and staff team successfully delivered two major events: the Future Practice Conference in Leeds (October 2024) and DR Day in London (April 2025), both of which received strong engagement.

The changes to the Family Procedure Rules in April 2024 significantly shaped the committee’s work, particularly around embedding the new rules and Pre-Application Protocols into mainstream practice. In response, the committee secured expert speakers—most notably Barbara Mills KC, Chair of the Bar Council—for both national conferences to support members’ understanding. A dedicated webinar and updated NCDR content on the Resolution website further supported practitioners. These reforms helped define the committee’s priorities over the year: expanding training, promoting NCDR skills, and supporting the profession through a period of cultural and procedural transition in family justice.

Drafting Committee

The Drafting Committee has been going through a transitional phase in 2024. That didn’t stop the committee hosting one of the first Lunch & Learn bitesize training sessions on drafting, which was very successful, signalling the movement towards drafting as a training need and developing checklists and other materials.

The committee is excited about the potential for cross committee collaborating in 2025. They are already working alongside the Pensions and Financial Remedy Group on possible changes to the orders, to reflect Resolution’s recent report on Domestic Abuse. The committee is also going to move towards updating the prenup precedent, among other projects.

Equality Diversity & Inclusion Committee

It was another busy year for the EDI Committee. The committee celebrated Black History Month by producing f Resolution’s first EDI podcast hosted by committee co-chairs Donna Goodsell and Natasha Shotunde from the Black barristers’ network.

The committee also hosted a Faith in Family Law webinar. An esteemed panel with different faith backgrounds included: Bina Modi, Nazia Rashid, Grant Cameron, Joe Ailion, and Jo O’Sullivan as chair. The session looked at the issues that Resolution members should know about with regard to faith, both for colleagues and clients in the family law sector; what good practice looks like to support colleagues and clients from different faith backgrounds; and what members and their firms can do to support good practice.

A successful Disability Webinar was also put on by the committee during International Disability Month. This proved a welcome introduction for Resolution members to understand disability better, including what the Equality Act sets out about disability and what good practice looks like in the sector with regards to both colleagues and clients with disabilities.

In 2025, the committee will be analysing the results of last year’s EDI Diversity Survey, an important survey that has not been completed since 2019. The data and report will go a long way to informing Resolution’s EDI strategy and implementation.

Legal Aid

In 2024, the Legal Aid committee responded to the MoJ’s review of civil legal aid call for evidence, seeking measures to improve the sustainability of both family legal aid and legally aided family mediation and to make the delivery of legal aid services economically viable for providers as set out in our Vision for Family Justice.

The committee also engaged with developments arising from RoCLA, including responding to a sustainability consultation and continuing to press for increases in legal aid pay. It also contributed to a further Ministry of Justice review of gateway evidence which it is hoped will result in positive changes to the domestic abuse evidence requirements from mid-2025.

November 2024 saw means test changes including extending the current equity disregard for an individual’s interest in their main or only dwelling to those at risk of domestic violence who have temporarily left but intend to return to reside  in the main or only dwelling.

Next year, the Committee will continue to press the LAA/MOJ to make the changes we seek on our legal aid “shopping list”, ensuring there is more access to legal aid, and processes for providers are simplified and pressing for improved payment for legal aid providers.

Litigants in Person Committee

The Litigants in Person (LIPs) Committee created new guidance for LIPs including preparing bundles, preparing witness statements and a glossary. The committee also met with the Parenting After Parting Committee with a view to starting to collaborate and share ideas with other Committees.

In 2024, the committee made a lot of improvements to the pages for LIPs on the Resolution website, after setting up a website working party.

Next year, the committee will be reviewing the Resolution Good Practice Guide for LIPs and will be looking to write an article for The Review to highlight the available LIPs resources and spread awareness for members working with LIPs.

A particular highlight for the committee was the feedback received from Regional Representatives about the available resources. It made the Committee feel worthwhile and ‘real’ as members showed great interest in what had been produced.

Parenting after Parting Committee

In 2024 the Parenting After Parting (PAP) committee have rewritten Publishing the new edition of the guide “Parenting through separation: putting your children first”, with updated sections, new graphics and tools and resources for parents.  Printed in hardcopy (for sale through resolution and Amazon) and digital download option as well as readable online. The committee have also produced supporting vlogs and podcasts to support the new guide’s launch. The guide is due to be added as a resource on gov.uk in 2025.

Next year the committee aims to provide regular reviews of books and resources for parents/family law professionals. They have also started an initial consideration of writing a resource for children of separated parents (in a similar style to guide).

Publications Committee

The stand-out achievement for the Publication Committee in 2024 chaired by Farhana Shahzady and Rosa Schofield is the publication of the Spousal Maintenance Handbook. Members of the Publication Committee took responsibility for writing chapters of the book, or editing the content of other authors. Special thanks must go to Esther Pilger who worked tirelessly to get this publication over the line for the committee.

The handbook covers all areas of spousal maintenance including, principles of spousal maintenance, Duxbury, international considerations, and pre-nuptial agreements. A launch party at 1GC was held to market the book and to celebrate the achievement of the committee.

In terms of plans for 2025, the Publication Committee hopes to produce more social media content for members of Resolution. There are discussions surrounding updating the Family Law Handbook, and exploring the potential publication of a new handbook focussing on domestic abuse. The Publications Committee is also exploring the potential for developing a Resolution blog, which would aim to provide members with more timely updates on case-law or legal change whilst awaiting the next issue of the Review.

Standards Committee

Ahead of 2025 becoming Resolution’s Year of the Code, the Standards Committee spent much of 2024 ensuring that the Code is central to all forms of family dispute resolution as the profession evolves through engagement with DR committee & supporting the Training & Learning pathway. In doing so, the Committee has spent time reviewing the Code in Practice course to ensure its evolution and that it is fit for purpose.

The committee has also been focussed on overseeing complaints by receiving regular reports at each meeting; analysing annually any identifiable trends in the subject of complaints to inform GPG/training needs; to provide training for complaints when appropriate.

Next year, the committee will continue to support the delivery of the Year of the Code including Awareness Week activities as well as working with the staff team to produce content and share expertise with the membership & public; and plan to review and understand how Resolution mediators tend to adopt FMC regulations and will raise awareness of the importance of registering.

Training & Learning Committee

The Training & Learning Committee have had a successful 2024, as they worked hard to progress the Resolution learning pathway, including delivering and creating further modules to meet member’s needs .

The committee has supported the creation of a high quality diverse and large pool of trainers, the trainer academy, the creation of the training calendar and strengthening links with partner organisations such as the Diversity Trust, to deliver training such as the diversity trust.

In 2025, the committee will continue to develop and produce the Resolution Learning Pathway modular training, including launching the Equality, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training, Building Resilience in Family Law; Supporting Clients, Supporting Ourselves: Prioritising Mental and Emotional Health Awareness in Family Practice; Responsibility for Children – Our role as family lawyers; and the Initial Meetings training courses.

The committee will work closely with other working parties to develop and enhance training including and will seek to maintain diversity and inclusivity of training and learning.

Working Together Group

In 2024, the Working Together Group concentrated on running workshops at Resolution conferences, to get the word out amongst Resolution members that Resolution is working on becoming more inclusive and more reflective of the myriad ways we can support clients now (both in terms of different processes and different professionals).

At National Conference, the committee helped to run two sessions on the important topic of trauma – both the trauma experienced by our clients and the vicarious trauma we, as practitioners, experience – and how best to manage it. The sessions ran alongside the Children and Finance Updates.

The Group was delighted to hear the enthusiastic and excited feedback to the National Conference Workshop, which confirmed that there really is a will to broaden the appeal of Resolution to more non-lawyer members with all the huge benefits that can bring.

Next year, the Group intends to further their work of attracting more non-lawyer members to Resolution and making the membership experience more valuable for those members.