1.          Start as you mean to go on

Throughout my career, I have always offered a free initial meeting to any new family clients and I know a number of solicitors local to me offer a similar arrangement or a fixed fee meeting.  If you are at the start of dealing with a family issue then it would be worthwhile arranging a few initial meetings with different solicitors. 

Aside from you being able to ask questions about your situation and get some initial guidance as to the next steps you should take; you will also be able to meet the solicitor who will potentially be dealing with your case going forward.  This is particularly important given the nature of family law and the issues that need to be addressed, as you should be fully comfortable and trust whoever represents you. 

This approach will save you costs in the long run as you can ensure you have the right person acting for you from the beginning of your case.

2.              Do it yourself

Prior to April 2022, I was firmly of view that it was a false economy for an individual to try and deal with the divorce proceedings themselves given the difficulties that could arise if they fell off the normal procedural track. 

However, post April 2022 and with the introduction of  No Fault Divorce, the process for obtaining a divorce has been simplified is now normally all dealt with online.

Since this time, I have had a number of clients who have been able to deal with the divorce themselves without any problems and with only minimal assistance from me.  I therefore now recommend  any client to first look at the divorce process (https://www.gov.uk/divorce) to see if they are comfortable dealing with this themselves so as to save costs.

3.          Be proactive

For a number of reasons, occasionally a client will just want me to deal with all aspects of their case for them.

Whilst I can do this for them, the reality is that the more a client can do themselves, the less time I will need to spend on their case and, in turn, the less their overall costs will be costs. 

At the start of your case, you should therefore identify what issues you think you can manage  yourself and let your solicitor know you will be dealing with these.

4.          Pick your battles

The brutal reality in family law is that no party ‘wins’ when dealing with a breakdown of a relationship.

The longer it takes for an overall agreement to be reached and implemented, the more the legal costs will be for both parties.  This in turn will reduce any monies available to meet their respective needs going forward. 

Whilst it is of course important to ensure that appropriate arrangements are put in place to meet the needs of all concerned and there will be times when you have to hold your position on certain issues; a fair and reasonable settlement is often reached quickly where both parties proactively work together, respectively compromise on different issues and avoid adopting and maintaining unrealistic positions based on a points of principle.

5.          Court as the last resort

As my previous boss used to say if family clients wanted justice, then they shouldn’t go to Court and they were right.

At the current time, the Family Courts are experiencing an extremely high volume of cases. As a result, through no fault of its making, the Courts are taking a lot longer to deal with any case and, as outlined above, the longer it takes to resolve a case the more the overall costs will be for all concerned. 

Whilst there will of course be times where involving the Court is the correct approach to  take Court (for example in case of an emergency or if the other party is simply not engaging in any way); if you do not specifically need to involve the Court there are a number of alternative dispute resolution options that a client could be adopted to resolve matters.

These include mediation, the Collaborative Law process, various forms of Early Neutral Evaluation and the Arbitration process.  By using any form or alternative dispute resolution as opposed to the normal Court process, the main benefit for the parties is that they retain control over how their case proceeds  In turn, this then enables them to focus on resolving the issues between on an accelerated basis thereby again saving costs.