header-logo header-logo

05 August 2011 / Graham Coy
Issue: 7477 / Categories: Features , Divorce , Family
printer mail-detail

A joint effort

Graham Coy sings the praises of collaborative law

“There has got to be a better way than this.” How many times have clients said this when, eventually, they reach the end of court proceedings about their divorce, their children or their finances? Their view is often shared by their lawyers and even by the judges who have to make decisions where no agreement can be reached. The answer to the question is “yes”, there is a better way and it is “collaborative law”. This article will look at the nature and size of the problem, what collaborative law is and what it can offer.

High divorce rate

In 2009, there were 113,949 divorces, in other words over 250,000 people were caught up in the legal process. According to the court service, nearly 100,000 children under 16 were also involved in court proceedings started by one or other of their parents.
To put this into some perspective, this is more than the populations of some of our largest cities, Southampton, Leicester and Newcastle.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

Senior appointments in insurance services and commercial services announced

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Aviation disputes practice strengthened by London partner hire

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Residential property lawyer promoted to partnership

NEWS
he abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
back-to-top-scroll