Q&A: Ask us anything!
Being a junior lawyer in the family world can be daunting, and raise questions that people are not comfortable asking those around them. In this special ‘Ask YRes’ feature, Abigail Whelan, TLT and Natalie Dunn, Moore Barlow, both members of the National YRes Committee, have received your questions and have collaborated to provide their guidance based on their experiences below.
What is/who are YRes? What are the benefits of joining YRes? How can they help me as a junior lawyer?
YRes is the junior arm of Resolution, aimed at family law professionals with up to 10 years PQE. Resolution members who fall into this category are automatically YRes members – you do not need to do anything extra. In terms of the benefits of getting involved with YRes at a local and national level, there is much to recommend it, including meeting new people and developing your network, sharing information amongst professionals from other firms, and developing knowledge and skills by attendance at YRes events.
What are the types of events that YRes organise?
The National YRes committee’s main focus is our annual Yres conference, which takes place usually in early November in London. See Abigail’s review and the spread of photos on for a full run-down of what took place at our 2025 conference. This is a great opportunity to meet other junior lawyers from across England and Wales, and to hear from a wide range of speakers about all things family law.
Locally, our regional YRes committees host smaller scale events throughout the year, including training days and workshops, as well as social events such as meet and greet drinks, pub quizzes, summer parties and winter balls. We recommend signing up to your region’s mailing list via your Resolution account to keep up to date with what your local committee is planning for you, and joining our National Yres LinkedIn group, where all regional and national events will be promoted. The back pages of this very magazine usually have a fair sample of events too.
How can I join the National YRes or my local YRes committee?
To join the National YRes committee, keep an eye on emails from Resolution signposting the committees looking for new members. The National YRes committee generally recruits new members at least once per year, given the natural flow of committee members reaching 10 years PQE and therefore moving on from the committee. The process is entirely anonymous.
Recruitment will look different at a local level depending on how your local YRes committee operates. In Bristol we will generally email round to YRes members and advertise on Social Media that we are looking for new members, for example. If you aren’t sure, get in touch with your local YRes chair and they will be able to provide more information regarding how the process works in your particular region. If you aren’t sure who your local YRes chair is, get in touch with Resolution and either the Resolution staff or your local National YRes liaison member will be able to put you in touch with them.
What advice would you give to a junior lawyer who is nervous about networking?
The Yres community is very friendly and approachable. If you are nervous about not knowing anyone when attending your first event, you can contact your local Yres chair to let them know you will be attending, and they will arrange to meet you and introduce you to others attending. You can also arrange to go with a friend or another member of your team so that you aren’t turning up alone. Before going you could prepare a short introduction about yourself, so you don’t feel put on the spot, and when speaking to people, listen and ask questions. In terms of events, be selective in those that you choose to go to initially; often an activity or seminar provides a great talking point when speaking to people at those events. Finally, go for it! Once you have attended your first event, you are likely to recognise people at future events, and over time you will build strong connections with other local family lawyers and professionals.
How do we encourage cross-region events?
If you are a member of your local YRes committee, reach out to other regional chairs to advertise which events are coming up and make it clear that members from other regions are welcome to attend. Making sure you have other local regional chairs on your list to receive email communications regarding your upcoming events can help with this, so they can in turn circulate invites with members from their region. If you aren’t sure how to go about getting in contact with other regional chairs, your YRes National Committee representative will be able to help.
Examples of where cross region events have worked particularly well recently include the Devon, Cornwall and Somerset ball, which was organised between the three Resolution committees and members from all three regions attended. Online events also lend themselves well to cross-region collaboration.
How do we find the best experts for business valuations?
The expert that you require will likely depend on the nature and size of the business and the type of valuation required for your specific case. There is unfortunately no central Resolution list of recommended business valuation experts as there are so many across the regions. If your firm does not have a list of recommended experts, we suggest speaking to other lawyers in your region to see who they use and recommend. This is another benefit of getting involved in your local Resolution groups, to expand your network and build connections with people that you then feel comfortable to reach out to for recommendations. As your career progresses you will also build experience of working with different experts who you are then able to recommend to others (or not!).
What are the latest trends in dispute resolution for family law matters?
We have noticed a push towards arbitration in matters that cannot be resolved outside of the court process (eg via mediation or solicitor correspondence), in part due to concerns we are all familiar with within the court process, such as final hearings being listed as a second fixture and hearings being pulled at the last minute. Where arbitration is agreed, parties value the certainty that their hearing will go ahead as planned and have more flexibility throughout the process in terms of timings and format. If you are due to attend a final hearing or in-court FDR, it is worth keeping in mind that you might need to flip to arbitration, private FDR or round table meeting at the last minute if your case is pulled.
Child inclusive mediation also seems to be popular, and for good reason. Whilst it won’t be appropriate in every case, where it is, the benefit to parents of hearing their child’s views and concerns via a neutral third party is invaluable, and the children involved are more likely to come away from the process feeling heard, even if the outcome isn’t what they would have chosen.
What advice would you give to a newly qualified solicitor who is struggling to balance their practice?
This is a very common feeling for junior solicitors; when you are starting out as a newly qualified solicitor, you are likely to be asked to do anything and everything. Family law is a very emotional area of law, so it is important to create and maintain clear boundaries with your work and clients. You do not need to be available to your clients 24/7 and you should ensure that you are clear as to when you are “on” and “off”. Remember that you are not responsible for helping your clients through the emotional impact of what they are going through, you should acknowledge this but consider referring your clients to other professionals, including counsellors, therapists and divorce coaches, who are specially trained to deal with that element.
Seek supervision if you are struggling; as a junior lawyer you should reach out to the more senior lawyers in your team for help with balancing your work and to put in place steps to help you with this. You could also sign up to Resolution’s brilliant 121 mentoring scheme if you would like support from someone outside of your team.
If you are struggling to balance the type of work you do, our advice is to take all the experience you can get at the outset and, over time, you will learn what type of work you enjoy doing the most and want to do more of, and the work that you enjoy less, which can then help you focus on the areas in which you would like to specialise in within the family law remit. If, for example, you are primarily doing financial remedy work and would like more experience with children work, you should express this to your supervisor. You could also sign up to some of Resolution’s training sessions and produce articles/blogs showcasing your knowledge, with the aim of receiving more enquiries for that type of work.
Do you have any advice on wellbeing for professionals when dealing with emotionally charged or significant domestic abuse cases?
Maintaining your wellbeing when handling emotionally charged domestic abuse cases is essential for both your professional effectiveness and personal health. First and foremost, it is crucial to look after yourself – you cannot pour from a cup that isn’t full. Prioritising your own mental and emotional health enables you to provide better support to your clients.
Resolution’s 121 mentoring scheme is mentioned above, and/or you may want to explore family law supervision. Many firms are now funding the cost of supervision, and this may be something to raise within your firm if they aren’t already. These professional relationships can provide valuable guidance and perspective when navigating difficult cases.
Therapy is another important resource to consider. It may be offered as part of your firm’s benefits package, but if not, it is a worthwhile investment in your long-term wellbeing and career sustainability.
Don’t underestimate the value of speaking to your colleagues about challenging cases. Sharing the emotional load with trusted peers can be incredibly helpful and serves as a reminder that you aren’t dealing with these difficult situations alone. The collective experience and support of your team can provide both practical advice and emotional relief.
On a practical level, make sure to step away from your desk for regular breaks during the working day. Going for a short walk on your lunch break can help clear your mind and provide necessary distance from emotionally demanding work. Away from the office, engage in activities that help you to unwind and decompress. What works best will look different for everyone – whether that’s exercise, creative pursuits, time with loved ones, or quiet relaxation – so find what genuinely helps you recharge.
I am interested in doing my own advocacy, where do I start and can people share their experiences of solicitor advocacy?
Resolution offer an Advocacy for Family Lawyers training course; the next one is on 13-14 April 2026 in London. This course equips family lawyers with essential skills for every stage of a case. It covers everything from thorough preparation, drafting clear, persuasive documents and learning to address judges with confidence, through to building practical skills in examination-in-chief, cross-examination, and delivering closing submissions.
You should also look into the Higher Rights of Audience qualification which is required to represent clients in the higher courts; there is a lot of information about this on the SRA website. You should speak to your supervisor about this in the first instance.
We also recommend reaching out to your local Resolution groups to find out if they can put you in touch with other lawyers in your region who do their own advocacy, so you can find out more about their experiences. You could also reach out to the wider network of lawyers on LinkedIn.
How does Resolution ensure its members act in a ‘Code compliant’ way?
Resolution is a membership organisation and all members sign up to the Code of Practice upon joining. Members are expected to adhere to the Code and to encourage their peers to do likewise, where appropriate. This peer-led approach relies on the professional commitment of members to uphold the standards and values that Resolution promotes. We know from our recent member research that members see Resolution’s role as promoting and supporting them to uphold the Code, rather than playing a regulatory or policing role.
As a result, last year was designated as the “Year of the Code”, during which Resolution focused on training, campaigning, and awareness raising to reinforce the importance of adhering to the Code amongst members. These initiatives were designed to ensure that members understand their obligations and are equipped to meet them in their daily practice. However, there is a complaints process, so if you do have concerns about a particular member’s conduct or compliance with the Code, do get in touch with Resolution.
We spoke to Resolution’s Head of Standards, Angela Lake-Carroll, on this point and her answer was very clear:
“Our aim is to maintain our standards through voluntary and positive commitment. Membership should represent our values in practice, achieved through adherence to our Code and ethical standards. We want our members to be proud of their membership of Resolution and of their Resolution community. Where a complaint or concern does arise, whether from the public or another member, we will address it fairly, transparently and robustly, and where necessary, require members to undertake appropriate action through training or in the most serious cases, suspending or terminating membership.”
What if my question hasn’t been answered here?
We were so grateful to receive so many interesting questions via the Ask YRes function, so much so that there wasn’t space to answer all of them here. Who knows – maybe Resolution HQ will let us have a regular spot in The Review to answer your questions?!
In the short term, however, we are hugely excited to be working on a special YRes takeover of Resolution’s podcast, ordinarily run by Anita Mehta and Simon Blain. In this episode, we will discuss some of the more technical questions we received that haven’t been answered above, with some very special guests. Please keep your eyes – and ears – peeled for this special episode, due to go live on 30 March 2026.