This week (23 to 27 November 2015) is ‘Dispute Resolution Week’ organised by our representative body Resolution, formerly the Solicitors’ Family Law Association.
This is the fourth year of the campaign which is designed to publicise and promote ways of resolving family disputes without going to court. For many years the non-court based approach was called ‘alternative’ dispute resolution; nowadays there is nothing alternative about resolving cases without going through the stress and expense of court proceedings.
There are basically five ways of sorting out financial and/or children disputes without going to court: The DIY Approach, Solicitor Negotiation, Mediation, Collaboration and Arbitration.
- The DIY Approach – This simply means the parties sort out the arrangements between themselves, and may have advice from a solicitor on any agreement reached.
- Solicitor Negotiation – Traditional negotiation between solicitors, this is usually in correspondence but sometimes at round table meetings.
- Mediation – A trained third party mediator acts as neutral facilitator to assist the parties to reach a settlement.
- Collaboration – Both parties instruct their own collaboratively trained lawyer. Meetings are held with the lawyers present with a view to sorting out the arrangements. The parties agree from the outset that they will not be able to use the same lawyers if the process breaks down.
- Arbitration – Colloquially known as ‘private judging’. Each party agrees to a qualified arbitrator being appointed to make decisions; usually there are lawyers on both sides. This approach offers more flexibility than court and is generally quicker.
For more information on each form of dispute resolution a leaflet can be downloaded from the Resolution website https://www.resolution.org.uk/alternatives_to_court/
During Dispute Week there is particular emphasis on the effect of divorce and separation on children with the slogan ‘Put Children First During Divorce’. Resolution has published a new book ‘Helping parents to help children’.
Resolution was established in 1982 by a group of like minded family lawyers in London who were basically fed up with the hostile and aggressive approach taken by many lawyers. The organisation changed its name in 2005 to reflect its aim – to bring about a Resolution to family disputes. It has now grown to 6500 members across England and Wales.
As members we agree to abide by the Code of Practice, the aim of which is to resolve family disputes in a non-confrontational way. Over the years the organisation has produced a number of Guides to Good Practice dealing with specific circumstances.
Resolution is not just for lawyers, the website provides invaluable advice to people going through separation and divorce including details of all Resolution members in their local area. For more information about Dispute Resolution week and Resolution see https://www.resolution.org.uk/DisputeResolutionWeek2015/
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