Broad range of information for professionals and practitioners in family law and justice.
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Covid-19 vaccination for school-age children is a potential minefield for separated parents, schools, local authorities, and ultimately the courts. There are a number of elements to hold in mind.
The remote experience does not need to be a lesser form of mediation – in fact, it can create its own advantages.
“It’ll all be over by Christmas!” With that famous phrase in mind, we went into lockdown in March with a roughly three-month horizon. After six months – and still counting - we all face the reality and uncertainties of living with Covid-19 for an indefinite future.
The President of the Family division has asked us to share this guidance on PDF bundles.
In this video podcast, Alan Larkin and Matthew Richardson, discuss how to maximise the conversion of new client enquiries in a time of remote connection.
This webinar considered family court closures internationally across six jurisdictions in the response to Covid-19 and how each is providing access to justice.
This webinar discussion explores online video family mediation.
With so many people’s financial positions likely to change suddenly, what are the chances of setting aside or varying an order made in more stable times?
With the global economic markets in turmoil, valuations being undermined immediately, many businesses on the edge of an abyss, the housing market effectively frozen and widespread furlough leave and redundancies, there cannot be a more difficult time for financial remedy practitioners to advise clients on the merits (or not) of pursuing or settling financial claims.
Practitioners are generally encouraged to use the online platforms as much as possible for finance consent orders applications, and for issuing contested finance applications where contested application falls within the jurisdiction area of one of the courts listed below.
With Covid-19 shifting cases overnight to digital-only, there is an urgent need to consider transparency issues, as well as ensuring our clients are not being left behind in the new processes.
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.”
Changes to the financial remedy courts that had been planned before readers had heard of Covid-19 may turn out to have been quite spectacularly well-timed…
This article tries to answer some of the questions now faced by separated parents worried about how the current events and government advice will impact on their child arrangements – whether existing or sought. I have seen and read many social media comments about this topic. There seems to be a wide divergence of views from family lawyers up and down the country.
The Central Family Court has issued a notice regarding financial remedy work covering the period from May - June 2020 and made clear they want online platforms to be used wherever possible throughout the Covid-19 outbreak.
The full notice can be downloaded on this page and we've highlighted the two sections particularly useful for members regarding;
- Directions in respect of non-urgent hearings and
- New applications
This page also includes a list of FRC courts where online platforms can be used for finance consent orders and issuing contested finance applications.
The Covid-19 lockdown is an incredibly dangerous time for survivors of domestic abuse. It has been widely reported that domestic abuse organisations have seen a huge increase in contact since the lockdown began. Refuge, for example, has reported an increase of online traffic to its National Domestic Abuse Helpline of 700%. Following media coverage of the helpline, calls and logs on 6 April 2020 were up by 120% compared to the previous day.
As family practitioners make a first set of emergency responses to the Covid pandemic, here are some pointers to the main issues and some sources of guidance.
This webinar considered family court closures internationally across six jurisdictions in the response to Covid-19 and how each is providing access to justice.