I am proud and delighted to introduce the first edition of the Financial Remedies Journal (FRJ). The paper journal sits alongside and complements its own website. Both the paper journal and the website are led by an interdisciplinary Editorial Board and are published and administered by Class Legal. Rhys Taylor acts both as Vice-Chair of the Editorial Board and Journal Editor and Hannah Smith (from Class Legal) acts as Journal Manager.

Our plan is to produce the paper journal three times per year – in the spring, summer and autumn – the Spring 2022 edition is our first. The mission of the paper journal is to promote serious and high-level debate and thought about the workings of the world of financial remedies, both substantively and procedurally and inside and outside of court. It is perhaps anomalous that there has not been such a specialised journal to date.

We are fortunate to have attracted for this issue some really excellent, thought-provoking, informative and substantial contributions from some of the most influential players in the field of financial remedies. From the judiciary we have pieces from three leading figures in this field: Sir James Munby, Sir Paul Coleridge and Mr Justice Nicholas Mostyn. Additionally, there are some thought-provoking papers on deferred remuneration, valuation, tax, pension offsetting, overseas divorce claims and no fault divorce. The journal is bolstered by articles which we hope to turn into regular features: a Tech Corner, a Money Corner, a DR Corner, a Case Round-Up and an interview with a leading figure in the field, for this edition Sir Jonathan Cohen. We are already burgeoning with ideas for contributions to the second edition, but very much welcome further ideas and contributions from across the range of professionals who have their business with the Financial Remedies Court.

The journal articles will also be available online on the FRJ website, but the website will also benefit from a number of other features. Importantly, there is instant and right up to date hyperlink access to a wide range of judgments in the field produced by our Case Editor, Polly Morgan, and her team. Unlike many databases this will include judgments by judges lower than High Court level, reflecting the President’s 10% Transparency ambition and the fact that the judgments by High Court judges and above in this area tend to deal only with very big money cases, which are not necessarily typical of the daily bread and butter of family court life. These are arranged in a way which recognises the importance of topicality, with the most recent decisions at the top, each case having a concise explanation of the significant dicta of the case; but can also be searched by subject matter or judge.

There is immediate hyperlink access in the FRC corner to all FRC relevant guidance (national and local) as well as to the most recent version of the Standard Family Orders.

There is a topical FRJ blog led by our Blog Editor Emily Ward and her team. We envisage this to be the electronic equivalent of a financial remedies Speaker’s Corner or the soapbox in the public square. If you have something to say about financial remedies, please do get in touch and get it off your chest on the blog. Whilst huge strides have been made in the creation of the Financial Remedies Court in the last few years, the system continues to evolve and we accept that some may want to voice frustrations and constructive criticisms, alongside (we hope!) occasional praise.

The FRJ has also launched an innovative facility to allow for the creation of a private FDR directory under the direction of Deborah Dinan-Hayward. The success of the private FDR is reflected both in their increasing deployment in those cases where the parties can afford to use this option and also in the recent Financial Remedies Court guidance, which supports and endorses this modern and effective method of dispute resolution. However, the market is evolving and one serious and well-made criticism is that the shortlists for the appointment of pFDR tribunals are not always as diverse as they perhaps should be. It is hoped that if interested practitioners post their details on the directory, there will develop a resource which the profession can use as a ‘go to’ tool when compiling pFDR tribunal shortlists. Please do consider posting your credentials on the site so that a comprehensive and diverse pFDR directory can evolve.

Our aim as an Editorial Board is to produce a journal and website of the highest quality, a go-to source of information for all financial remedies practitioners. You can also follow us on Twitter as @fr_journal. Let me commend it to you.