Introducing Courtney Legal

Picture the familiar scene: a social gathering; you are enjoying a well-deserved night off. Someone in the room hears that you are a family lawyer. That someone is, or knows someone who is, experiencing a family law problem. That someone makes a beeline for you. It has happened to all of us. As family lawyers it is in our DNA to help even if that means a night off becomes another evening discussing the options available to that person in need. Is mediation right for them? Do they have a solicitor? What is a private FDR? What is arbitration? If only there was one place where we could direct people like this to answer their questions and, perhaps, allow us to avoid talking shop in granular detail in our down time.

Context: the problem

The answer to many day-to-day practical problems can now be solved by watching online videos. Furniture assembly, plumbing repairs, weaning babies, pilates – to name but a few. Curiously, though, if you had wanted to tune in to get a grip on what actually happens in an FDR or DRA hearing, you would have found pretty much nothing to watch online. There is a plethora of tv shows depicting criminal proceedings, some more accurate than others, and those involved in a civil matter can walk into a courtroom and watch one unfold before their eyes. But in family law, obviously, the courtroom doors are usually firmly shut.

Of course, the problem is more serious than simply disturbing our social events; it concerns access to justice and information, as practitioners well know. The family courts have been under increasing strain for years. Justice has fared worse than any other unprotected department in terms of funding since 2010. Fewer people have access to free legal representation. The number of people who do not qualify for Legal Aid, but equally cannot afford representation, is growing. Non-profit organisations such as CAB and PSU are overwhelmed. The increase in uninformed litigants exacerbates the crippling backlogs in the courts.

Studies of the public’s understanding of the law point to a substantial knowledge deficit.[1] As the Nuffield Fair Shares Report said “there was a rather chaotic picture of where divorcing people obtained information, support and advice”, which included a “mass of undifferentiated sources of varying authority and clarity.”[2] The Law Commission’s recent scoping report concluded that the law “lacks accessibility to an extent that it could be argued to be inconsistent with the rule of law.”[3] (For more info on the Law Commission’s findings, see their article in this issue)

The fact that innovative educational resources are needed in family law is not beyond doubt. However, 97% of JusticeTech funding in the last decade has gone to businesses serving corporate clients.[4] There is no money to be made in advancements that serve the end consumers of the law. Or, that seems to be the perception of investors.

Courtney – the concept

The lawyer founders of Courtney are often asked for help by parents at the school gates, by friends and family and their friends too. We have spent a lot of pro bono hours helping people in acute legal difficulty and become frustrated that we cannot help more or help everyone we might want to. Even as busy lawyers, often we don’t feel we know where to turn when we have a legal problem unrelated to our own niche.

Individuals facing a family law issue need a neutral source of expert insight. They need to feel they have the insiders’ “manual” so they can understand their options and move ahead, fully informed, with or without expert legal services alongside that manual. Empowerment is what is lacking in this field. Indeed at various points in time government policy papers have confirmed this.[5]

Welcome, Courtney

Courtney is an audio-visual public legal education hub and the first, we think, of its kind. It hosts animations of key hearings and non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) sessions, and avoids dense narrative. The materials are prepared by a growing group of renowned practitioners. Unlike the well-known digital libraries supplied by the international publishing giants, this library is available to all, not just those within/studying the law. There is no imagery of sad, divorcing people or depressing language about how awful divorce can be. Our practical content is infused with warmth. We use everyday, neutral language and communicate the most important stuff and its practical application. Not legal advice but guidance.

Courtney’s library currently stretches to around 60 individual (mainly financial but expanding) family law topics, with a variety of audio-visual explainers, animations (with particular focus on NCDR), toolkits including example documents (like the FDR notes and final order to accompany the FDR animations), and articles broken down into intuitive segments.

We’ve been asked many times why we named the site “Courtney”? Quite apart from Courtney being a given name for males and females of Norman and Old French origin that means “short nose”? Our vision was clear from the start – we wanted to demystify and humanise our legal system. We wanted to show you inside the COURTroom. To do that we needed a human narrator. Enter Courtney. She appears in animations and offers hints and explainers.

The feedback has been very humbling. Both from new practitioners and from people facing separation and divorce. For example, this, from a dad of primary school age children: 

“I am currently eight months into a divorce which has become more protracted and emotive than either party ever envisaged. However, without Courtney, things would have been worse: it has been an invaluable tool in not only orientating the uninitiated (me) in a sometimes complicated and intimidating landscape but also a stark reminder of the core values both parties might aspire to and the various remedies available to mitigate conflict. I can only hope that others find this incredible resource (and roadmap) as helpful as I have.”

The focus is always upon the end consumer (the real people going through the tough stuff). This includes the estimated c70% of the divorcing population who do not access legal services. That said, Courtney’s materials are also helpful to practitioners, especially newcomers.

Courtney’s main take up at present is by family law businesses: law firms, chambers and mediators. Partner organisations provide Courtney free to their clients to provide insight, know-how and support at any time of day or night without incurring added legal costs or placing unnecessary strain on (typically the most junior members of) legal teams. Our partners and contributors are detailed on the website. We are hugely grateful to them for leaping onto this project with such enthusiasm.

admin@courtney.legal

[1] How people understand and interact with the law by Professor Pleasance, Dr Balmer and Dr Denvir, June 2015.

[2] Fair Shares? Sorting out money and property on divorce, 1 November 2023

[3] Law Commission Financial Remedies on divorce and dissolution: a scoping report, 17 December 2024

[4] LawTech UK Report: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to Improve Access to Justice, March 2023

[5] How people understand and interact with the law, 2015 a research paper funded by the Legal Education Foundation; Legal Support: The Way Ahead, 2019 report by then Lord Chancellor David Gauke MP.