Growth in the family sector – how are you managing it?

The GLP Index has predicted a growth of +3% for family lawyers in 2024.

How are family lawyers going to deal with such growth? Or perhaps the question should be how are the family Courts going to deal with this growth?

Our clients need to know from the outset that whatever their need for advice, whether this is for divorce, financial remedy or child arrangements, these complex and personal issues are not sorted overnight.

There are significant delays at the Family Court, which show little sign of improving and clients need to be aware of the impact on resolution should an application be made.

Whilst there are often reasons to litigate and seek judicial intervention, Non-Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR”) needs to be on every family lawyer’s radar. Even more so given The Family Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2023 (SI 2023/1324) which come into force in part on 8th April 2024 and then on 29th April 2024. A new FPR 3.3(1A) will allow the Court to require parties to file and serve a form stating their views on using NCDR to resolve matters raised in the proceedings.

The definition of NCDR at FPR 2.3(1)(b) has been widened to mean ‘methods of resolving a dispute other than through the court process, including but not limited to mediation, arbitration, evaluation by a neutral third party (such as a private FDR process) and collaborative law’.

There are also further amendments which impact on advice to clients.

If you are not suggesting NCDR to your clients already and have a bank of trusted third parties to include mediators, collaborative lawyers, Resolution Together trained lawyers, divorce coaches, Arbitrators and Counsel, to name a few, it could become embarrassing for you and your firm.

Offering a holistic approach to resolution can only be beneficial to clients and your reputation. Family lawyers cannot be linear in their approach, it will not bode well for the overall outcome and client satisfaction.

The landscape is ever changing in our practice, and whilst the divorce rate maybe falling, there will inevitably soon be a rise in the instructions of pre-nuptial agreements and cohabitation agreements, with or without reform. The former especially is a complex piece of work and once which could be open to claims in the future if the correct advice is not given.

It is also important to strengthen relationships with other family lawyers to enable a swift resolution for work of this nature. I have had experience with other family lawyers not willing to work in a collaborative way. I always wonder why? We all want the same don’t we?

We know that parties are getting married much later and many possibly having been divorced before. This brings another level of possible complexities to the case with pre-acquired wealth, non-matrimonial property, children from previous relationships etc.

We need to be ‘on the ball’ at all times.

Careful succession planning also needs to be considered to ensure the team continues to expand or manage the impact on service when lawyers retire or change firms.

Lastly, but by no means less important, is the well-being of your family team. With the growth of the sector and the issues above, which are only a few examples of the changing landscape, family lawyers are dealing with highly emotional cases. Have you checked in on your team lately to ask how they are coping?

How are you and your firm going to manage all of this?