Knowledge and resources

As lawyers and mediators, we need to think of new ways our skills can be used to tackle problem cases without resort to the court

With family court delays now further exacerbated by Covid-19, why are we not using child arbitration in far more cases?

This new process option combines the certainty and timescales of arbitration, with mediation’s potential for self-determination and constructive negotiation.

On 17 March 2020 the Family Division noted in a statement that “there is an urgent need to increase the use of telephone and video technology immediately to hold remote hearings where possible. Emergency legislation is being drafted which is likely to contain clauses that expand the powers in criminal courts to use technology in a wider range of hearings. The Civil Procedure Rules and Family Procedure Rules provide for considerable flexibility. We also encourage you to work with your local court staff to identify work which could be done from home.”

The current crisis and the problems that the courts are facing has shone a new light on how we practice and the solutions we can offer our clients.

There have been many mentions of arbitration and changes. What’s that all about?

In this article for The Review Mei-Ling McNab reports back on "The pros and cons of early neutral evaluation" presentation from the DR Conference 2019.

This was the main question which arose for determination in H v W [2019] EWHC 1897 (Fam), in which deputy High Court judge Clare Ambrose carried out a detailed analysis of the scope of s57 of the Arbitration Act 1996, in the context of a financial arbitration under the IFLA scheme.

In family arbitration you and your partner appoint an arbitrator, who will make a decision that will be final and binding between the parties, on any financial and property disputes or some child-related issues arising from family relationships.

The Dispute Resolution committee works across all areas of family dispute resolution, leading innovation in process and practice.