Divorce drop 'a blip'

Family solicitors have greeted with mixed views figures released last week which show the lowest divorce rate for 22 years.

Henry Brookman, a divorce specialist sole practitioner in London who shot to notoriety in May with advertising which included the slogans 'ditch the bitch' and 'all men are bastards', claimed the figures were merely a 'statistical blip'.

He said: 'This has happened because practitioners last year were encouraging their female clients to hold off filing for divorce until the pension-splitting law came into force [on 1 December 2000].'Peter Watson-Lee, chairman of the Law Society's family law committee, agreed 'to a point' that the figures could be explained in this way.

He explained: 'There was certainly a large number of practitioners advising wives to wait before filing, which would account for a substantial fall in the number of divorces.'However, he said that this was not the sole explanation.

'The figures also reflect that fewer people are getting married today.'Jane Craig, chairman of the Solicitors Family Law Association, said it was 'hard to say' what accounted for the drop in divorces last year.

'It could be a statistical blip,' she said.

'Alternatively, it could be due to the current climate where family solicitors actively encourage their clients to go to counselling and think carefully about whether divorce is right for them.' Victoria MacCallum