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A quiet revolution?

25 July 2025 / Jennifer Headon
Issue: 8126 / Categories: Features , Profession , Family , Legal services , ADR , Divorce
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Family law is shifting towards a calmer & more constructive approach to solving conflicts, writes Jennifer Headon
  • Family law is moving away from aggressive, lengthy correspondence toward more constructive, empathetic communication to reduce conflict and improve outcomes.
  • Changes such as no-fault divorce, mandatory consideration of non-court dispute resolution, and the ‘One Couple, One Lawyer’ model are reshaping how family disputes are resolved, emphasising cooperation over confrontation.
  • There’s growing emphasis on mental health, co-parenting, transparency, and judicial scrutiny of legal costs, all aimed at reducing harm and promoting dignity in family law proceedings.

Something has changed in the inboxes of family law practitioners recently. Gone are the long-winded letters that, at best, set out complex legal arguments in excessive detail and, at worst, were unedited regurgitations of a client’s instructions—often allowing abusive spouses to continue a ‘lawful’ campaign of harassment. While such correspondence still exists, it has thankfully become rare.

In a time when personal telephone calls are increasingly infrequent, the humble telephone has re-emerged as a powerful

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
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From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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