Delays are a major headache for family lawyers working in private law children cases. Natasha Grande, head of family at Wilsons Solicitors, writing in this week’s NLJ, suggests they proactively explore alternative avenues for their clients.
Grande outlines the current state of play in terms of delays, and looks into a variety of ways to resolve some of the outstanding issues, including some pilots that are taking place for private law children’s cases as well as other proposals.
Grande suggests arbitration is an under-utilised resource for resolving children disputes. She writes: ‘Arbitration can be an excellent option for parties who can afford it and where there are minimal safeguarding concerns.
‘However, there still seems to be a lack of awareness around arbitration… the government’s proposals are only really taking mediation into account, overlooking other valuable forms of ADR, such as collaborative law and early neutral evaluation.’
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