It is strongly recommended that each party takes legal advice before entering into the arbitration agreement ARB1CS.
This is to make sure that the parties understand the implications and effect of the arbitration process and of the Determination.
In other words, to be clear that everyone understands that Arbitration is legally binding.
Also so that the parties understand that they must follow the procedure set down by the Arbitrator – and if they do not, they could be cost penalties or a determination could be made simply on the other person’s information – if they decide to opt out.
On signing the Form ARB1CS parties are asked to confirm that they have been advised as the nature and effect of the arbitration agreement.
Because Arbitration has some similarities with court proceedings, being represented by a lawyer may be the most effective way to present a case and legal arguments.
But ultimately, the answer is: No – a party entering arbitration does not need a lawyer to represent them.
We our conscious that the cost of legal representation can be very expensive and is not affordable for everyone.
For clients choosing to arbitrate through our arbitration service, we will supply templates for statements – to assist clients presenting their information in a similar way and which is focused on the issues between them and the factors that the Arbitrator will need to take into account when making their determination.
We are contracted with the Legal Aid Agency to provide legal advice and legal representation to those who qualify for Legal Aid. (We also have a Legal Aid Contract for family mediation).
Most of our legally aided cases involve social services or child arrangements or assisting clients who have been subjected to domestic abuse. We have obtained some good results for clients since we opened.
For example, we successfully assisted a parent who had lost a previous child to adoption, to be given a fair opportunity to show that she could parent her new baby. The outcome of the case was that she was allowed to keep her baby in her care.
In another case we required a local authority to respect the rights of learning disabled parents.In a complex case, we ensured that our client received a fair hearing and that all issues were properly considered.
We successfully assisted another parent to keep her child in her care despite a determined application by the Local Authority to have the child placed in long-term foster care.
We successfully assisted a mother to secure the return of her daughter from the care of her estranged parents. The child had gone to live with the parents during a difficult time in the mother’s life. That has since passed and the Court was satisfied that it was in the child’s best interests to live with our client and also with their sibling.
We assisted a mother to obtain a Protective Injunction against her former partner who had persistently harassed her. He then left her alone.
A requirement of our Legal Aid Contract is that we hold the Specialist Quality Mark. This is a Quality Standard – which is independently audited – which requires us to operate with identifiable written processes which ensure that we are able to provide a quality service to clients.
The Specialist Quality Mark was originally granted to us in 2013 – during our first year of trading. The Quality Mark needs to be renewed every three years. At the beginning of August we were re-audited. (more…)
I’m pleased to announce that I have been admitted as a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators/Institute of Family Law Arbitrators (IFLA).
On Monday, 18 July 2016 Institute of Family Law Arbitrators (IFLA) will be formally launching its Children Law Arbitration Scheme at Parliament Chamber, Inner Temple, London.
I am pleased to say that I will be one of the founding Child Law Arbitrators within the Children Law Scheme.
In order to undertake the training as a child law arbitrator I needed to demonstrate my experience in this area of law and I also need to produce references from two Judges of my suitability.
I am very pleased and honoured to have gained this qualification. Over the next few years there is likely to be a growth in the use of arbitration in family disputes. I am pleased to be at the cutting edge of the development of this area practice.
I will be updating our website over the next few weeks with details of our arbitration service.
Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution. The parties enter into an agreement under which they appoint a suitably qualified person (an “arbitrator”) to adjudicate a dispute and make an award. (more…)
At the end of a successful financial mediation the mediator will prepare a document called the Memorandum of Understanding, which sets out the parties proposals for a financial settlement. At this stage the proposals are not a binding agreement. In order to turn the proposals within the Memorandum of Understanding into a binding agreement, the couple need to instruct solicitors.
Each party will have their own solicitor. One of the solicitors will draft a Financial Consent Order. They will also prepare the other paperwork which needs to be sent to the court at the same time. There is a joint summary of financial information. This is to give the Judge sufficient information to decide whether the contents of the financial consent order are reasonable. The making of a financial order is a judicial discretion. If the Judge is not satisfied that the proposed Order is sufficiently fair, the judge will reject it. Sometimes the judge will ask for more information before deciding to approve or reject a draft Consent Order.
Each of the couple will also send to the court a formal application for financial relief – so that the various claims can be dismissed as part of a clean break.
The party whose solicitor does not prepare the draft order would normally instruct their own solicitor to advise them on the contents of the draft order, before the paperwork is sent to the Judge.
This process this process does mean that there is a degree of duplication of work. When the mediator prepares the Memorandum of Understanding, this can be an involved piece of drafting which can take as much time as it takes to draft a financial consent order.
Mediation is a good choice for separating couples who are able to enter into sensible negotiation and who want to limit the overall cost of their divorce. Obtaining independent legal advice in support of the mediation process – as necessary, is also essential to enable the couple to make informed choices.
I am a mediator who is also a divorce solicitor. I regularly get requests from the parties in mediation, who do not wish to take legal advice or instruct separate solicitors to draft a court order reflecting the agreement they have reached as a consequence of mediation.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority have issued guidance on the circumstances in which I can accept instructions as a solicitor from both parties to prepare a draft Financial Consent Order, after a successful mediation.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority Advise that I am able to do by way of a new restricted/limited retainer once the mediation retainer is complete (more…)
I am a family mediator who is accredited by the Law Society. I was trained as a mediator by the Solicitors Family Law Association – now Resolution. Both organisations are members of the Family Mediation Council.
The Family Mediation Council is the overarching governing body for family mediation. Both the Law Society and Resolution are members of the Family Mediation Council (FMC) along with other mediation governing bodies including the Family Mediators Association – of which I’m also a member. It’s a bit complicated. Basically the idea was The Family Mediation Council was formed to draw together the different and disparate mediation bodies. Hopefully in due course the regulatory roles of all of the different mediation bodies will be drawn together and merge into the FMC.
This is a slight digression but, the post that I wanted to make was that last month I attended a forum for family mediation supervisors (Professional Practice Consultants – PPC’s) organised by Resolution. It was an informative day – the lead speaker was Robert Crichton of the Family Mediation Standards Board (essentially a subsidiary from the FMC tasked with unifying standards across the different mediation bodies). The mediation world is quite small and it was also a good opportunity to catch up with some old friends.
The Family Mediation Council has required mediators to gain accreditation and to register with it in order for those mediators to be able to undertake Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings and to be able to sign off the relevant parts of court applications.
Because, like me many mediators are registered with several of the old governing bodies, and because the old governing bodies weren’t always very cooperative with each other, it wasn’t really known how many accredited mediators there actually were.
The registration process has been completed. Long-standing mediators who were approved to undertake legally aided work but who were not actually accredited by one of the old governing bodies have also been required to gain accreditation as mediators either with the Law Society or with the Family Mediation Council. This accreditation process is nearly complete.
What we did learn on the day was that by the time the whole registration and late accreditation process is completed, there will only be around 800 accredited mediators nationally.This was less than had been expected. It is also noteworthy that the population of mediators is ageing and what is currently required to achieve accreditation is quite onerous (and expensive) and the number of accredited mediators is likely to go down before it goes up.
I qualified as a mediator very early in my family law career and now have 20 years as a mediator behind me. (more…)
I am writing this blog on Monday 04 January 2016.
Already this year we have received a number of new enquiries. January is a busy time for family solicitors. This is not so much because marriages breaking down over Christmas.
It is more the case that the New Year brings a resolve to sort out problems which we have often avoided dealing with in the run-up to the Christmas break. The run-up to Christmas can be busy and tiring and it is sensible to await the New Year and to make important decisions with a clear head.
We have long since abandoned the “free half hour” initial meeting. This is with good reason. Half an hour in our experience is not enough time for a new client to explain to us in detail the problem about which they are seeking advice. Half an hour is not enough time for us to ask the questions that we need to enable us to give good advice. Half an hour does not provide enough time for the client to then ask the follow-up questions they would want.
As a solicitor, I would not wish to give advice without having a clear understanding of the problem. My client relies upon the advice that I give them. If the advice is not good there is potential for a complaint or indeed a claim for professional negligence. I have never been the subject of a professional negligence claim.
What can easily happen with the free half hour is (more…)
This week is Resolutions annual Dispute Resolution Week. The idea is to raise awareness of constructive ways of dealing with divorce and other family disputes.
I am a big supporter of the aims of Dispute Resolution Week. I am Chair of the Devon Region of Resolution. I have been on the Devon Committee for over 10 years and a Resolution member for around 20 years. I was one of the first Family Mediators trained by Resolution in 1996 and I am was also an early adopter of Collaborative Family Law.
We are not doing anything in Devon this year as we have other things in the pipeline for 2016, but those of us who are members encourage anyone with an interest to read the research commissioned by Resolution for Dispute Resolution Week and to watch the new video (embedded in this post)
Here is a summary of the research
New polling has found that around eight out of ten children and young people with experience of parental separation or divorce would prefer their parents to split up if they are unhappy, rather than stay together. (more…)
We invest a lot of ourselves in our personal relationships. The break-up of a marriage or long term relationship is likely to unleash a lot of negative emotions.
As an experienced family law solicitor I know in this emotional maelstrom there is a serious risk that one or both of the couple may make poor decisions which they might later regret.
Before taking any steps on behalf of a client, I would always wish them to be clear that they are certain in any decision to separate. “The grass is not always greener”. On the other hand some relationships do reach the point where they are broken beyond repair and are even harmful. (more…)
I have included below a link to a government press release issued today and I have reproduced the press release itself in green italics at the bottom.
These are difficult times for Family Justice. There has been a reduction in the cases going to court about the arrangements for children. The anticipated Mediation boom has not quite happened either.
Does this mean that families are now better able to resolve disputes about the arrangements for their children? Not from what I have seen. Instead problems are going unresolved which usually mean children are losing contact with their parents or one of the parents is placing themselves in a situation which is risky. (more…)
As an experienced family law solicitor I know that the Christmas period is not a happy time for everyone. In the run-up to Christmas we deal with a surge in cases between separated parents who are in dispute about where their children are to spend time.
Some families manage to hold things together over Christmas but the cracks within the relationship are such that as the New Year arrives one will decide that they cannot face another year together.
This explains why Solicitors see an increase in new instructions each January.
Separating in a planned way represents an opportunity to avoid hasty decisions and bad choices.
Before taking any steps on behalf of a client, I would always wish them to be clear that they are certain in any decision to separate. “The grass is not always greener”. On the other hand (more…)
