The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is set to pilot a new way of dealing with family law legal services that will see disputes kept out of court, the Gazette has learned – but a lack of specialists in the field may cause problems, solicitors have warned.

The LSC has decided to trial the new collaborative law approach in two areas across the UK from early next year, with a view to rolling it out if it is successful. Collaborative law, which originated in the US, sees solicitors and clients all signing an agreement that they will not resort to formal legal process unless negotiations breakdown. In that event, new lawyers have to be engaged for the court process.


Collaborative law:
US origins

An LSC spokesman said ‘[We] will pilot the collaborative law approach in two (as yet to be determined) areas of the country from early 2005 as part of the expansion of the Family Advice and Information Service. If the collaborative practitioner believes that the collaborative law approach may be beneficial to the client, it will be pursued if the client agrees.’

The Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA) backed any moves towards the new approach. A spokeswoman said: ‘For some families, collaborative law will provide a better outcome. It makes sense for public funding to support this outcome where possible.’


Collaborative law negotiations aim to be different from regular settlement talks, and require solicitors to take on less lawyer-like attitudes.


But addressing the influential constitutional affairs select committee this week, SFLA president Kim Beatson warned that any project could be scuppered by a lack of legal aid solicitors. ‘We need an optimum number of lawyers to refer the work on to when it comes in,’ she said.


Speaking generally about problems with the system, committee member Ross Cranston QC suggested that solicitors might delay matters if mothers wanted to deny fathers contact, despite the impact on the legal aid fund.


But Christina Blacklaws, chairwoman of the Law Society’s family law committee, told MPs that a lack of legal aid solicitors in the field meant there was a glut of work. ‘[We have] more cases than we can possibly handle,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t make sense that we would be milking those cases.’