Family judges campaign to take the bitterness and costs out of divorce
You can read the article by Frances Gibb in the Times yesterday here
Cynics might accuse the so-called 'magic circle' of family lawyers of being frightened of change - lining their own pockets even - and only embracing collaborative law now that their reputations are being tarnished by the accusations that they are 'wedded to an adversarial approach which can all too often damage families.'
In my view the main reason collaborative family law is not 'an easy option' (to quote the family lawyer at Grahame Stowe Bateson) is that the divorcing couple are unable to leave their emotions outside the meeting room and their fears, their guilt, their sadness will make it hard to be reasonable and consider compromise. That's hardly surprising - they are making some of the most difficult decisions at one of the most stressful times of their lives. But there are people who can help keep the emotional side level and divorce coaches will play an increasingly important role here as Resolution (formerly the Solicitor's Family Law Association) allows them in - and I am delighted to feel real progress here.
My admiration is with the smaller family lawyers dealing with the lower net worth cases who I know professionally and who embraced collaborative law at an early stage and worked tirelessly to make it main stream. A client who went through the process recently was amazed and delighted at how quickly she was able to settle once the process had got underway and she had the tools to deal with her emotions.
