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06 September 2024 / David Burrows
Issue: 8084 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Family , Child law
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My three wishes for the new Labour Lord Chancellor

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Family law procedure from the genie’s bottle. In the first of two articles, David Burrows calls for change
  • Sets out author’s recommendations for changes to family procedure rules.
  • The first part of this short series covers the author’s call for Parkinson’s law to be applied to family proceedings and for an overhaul of procedure in children’s cases.
  • A second article will cover the author’s recommendation for Amicus-like help for family judges.

Were the new Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood KC MP, to appear before me as if a genie from a bottle, and offer me three wishes, what would I ask for in terms of family law procedural reform? I take as read that any Labour government would want to overhaul our broken legal aid system, so I will move on from that.

My list concentrates on case management and more effective use of judges’ time, and recalls the dire state of procedural law for mature children involved in court proceedings. All of this must be

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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