The State of UK Family Law in 2024
April 2022 saw a number of developments within family law, many of which aimed to relieve the rising backlog of cases and pressure on the courts. These developments have been nothing short of innovative, but one year on, our 2025 UK research reveals a polarised reception to some of these changes.
Resolution Spearheads Innovation in Family Law
The national body, Resolution, announced the ‘Resolution Together’ model, known informally as the ‘one lawyer two clients’ model, in August 2022, allowing lawyers to jointly advise divorcing and separating couples.
One year on Resolution has announced they have trained over 330 individuals in this approach to family law. In our research, proponents of this model have heralded its value for money and opportunity to facilitate divorce in a less acrimonious environment, particularly valued by clients with children. Sceptics of this model have been more unanimous in expressing welfare concerns, chiefly, whether training offers sufficient safeguarding to potentially vulnerable clients.
Family lawyers are no strangers to cases of coercive or controlling behaviour, but in the context of joint representation, can this environment adequately identify situations unsuitable for this approach? Our research indicates a growing number of these types of cases following the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlights the importance of addressing these concerns sooner rather than later.
The key takeway from our research, however, is that the majority of family lawyers agree that joint representation can be an effective means of resolution, but only in the correct context. In other words, when it works it works well, but when the situation is not appropriate, it has the potential to exacerbate an already unequal playing field.
Court Changes Rules On Mediation
During our research period, lawyers welcomed timely changes to court procedure rules regarding the use of mediation in family matters. These changes encourage the greater use of out of court dispute resolution. Specifically, these changes consist of evaluations by judges in which parties must detail why their case is not appropriate for alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
What our research has disclosed, however, are concerns over judges’ newfound ability to send cases to mediation. One scenario is the potential for a case where both parties are willing to resolve the matter but are sent to mediation, which can leave them feeling demoralised as the case is prolonged.
Family law is fast-evolving, especially in the wake of COVID-19 and with the family courts under more scrutiny than ever before. It will be interesting to see what further developments are up for debate in our next round of research.
Family procedure rule changes steer parents towards non-court dispute resolution | Law Gazette
Family legal aid data prompts fresh mediation warning | Law Gazette
