DR Corner

DR Corner: The Role of the Lawyer in Mediation

This article focuses on mediation, and specifically civil/commercial and hybrid mediation, deployed in the family law context. What is mediation? What are the essentials of the different types of mediation? How do they compare? And what are the key points that family lawyers need to understand?

DR Corner: Thinking Outside the Box – Two Different Forms of NCDR

DR Corner: Thinking Outside the Box – Two Different Forms of NCDR

On a number of occasions when sitting, Stephen heard Dr Freda Gardner, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, say in evidence as an expert witness: ‘the issues in this family should never have developed to a point where this litigation became necessary’. Then, one day, they met outside the court environment, and he

DR Corner: Is NCDR Appropriate in Financial Remedy Cases where there is Domestic Abuse?

DR Corner: Is NCDR Appropriate in Financial Remedy Cases where there is Domestic Abuse?

In October 2024, a Resolution multi-disciplinary working party published a report, Domestic abuse in financial remedy proceedings. Described as a ‘groundbreaking’ consideration of the interplay between domestic abuse and the treatment of finances on separation and divorce, this 18-month project is a powerful call for change from eminent family law

DR Corner: Early Reflections on Pre-Application Protocol – Seismic Shift or Damp Squib?

DR Corner: Early Reflections on Pre-Application Protocol – Seismic Shift or Damp Squib?

Family judges don’t have it easy. When the combined wisdom of a thousand cases leads to the identification of a particular problem, what are they to do about it? Publishing a judgment provides the most obvious and immediate answer. But often such pleas resemble the proverbial pebble dropped into

DR Corner: Introducing Assent: Combining Arbitration and Private FDRs in a Streamlined Process based on the FPR Directions

DR Corner: Introducing Assent: Combining Arbitration and Private FDRs in a Streamlined Process based on the FPR Directions

Anyone who has tried to arrange a Private Financial Dispute Resolution (pFDR) will be familiar with that sinking feeling when the process is slipping away. It starts with a low-level dispute over the judge, the date or the location of the hearing. Then a seemingly innocuous question about disclosure. A

DR Corner: Fair Shares – Mediation Under the Microscope

DR Corner: Fair Shares – Mediation Under the Microscope

1 November 2023 saw the launch of the Fair Shares report, which presents the results of the first fully representative study of the arrangements families make on separation and divorce.[[1]] Following a bespoke survey of 2,425 individuals who had divorced in the last 5 years, the report helps

DR Corner: FPR Part 3 – Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Options – Perils and Possibilities

DR Corner: FPR Part 3 – Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Options – Perils and Possibilities

Opportunities for resolution away from the court have never been greater – mediation, early neutral evaluation, private FDRs, arbitration – and practitioners continue to take up training in these disciplines. However, although the use of out-of-court resolution continues to increase, too many cases remain within the overburdened court system, cases for which