Family Law Litigation 

Family Lawyer

The field of family law is quite diverse. As a result, the topics covered at one institution may differ significantly from those covered at another.

Most modules will include some essential themes (such as marriage, divorce, and children) as well as others that are more closely related to the instructors' specialties.

Here are several examples:

Divorce, dissolution, and financial separation are all terms used to describe the end of a relationship.

Parentage, residency, interaction, and parental responsibility are all factors to consider. Adoption, surrogacy, child abduction, and even abuse/neglect are examples of this.

Children's Rights (taking into account a child's ability to make decisions for themselves)

Domestic Violence

International Treaties, such as the ECHR Socio-legal Convention, impose domestic obligations to families. Family Law: a broader examination of what society considers to be a family and whether the law has sufficiently addressed modern societal ideas. The law of parenthood in the setting of a growth in same-sex partnerships is one example.

The State and Family Law: This includes the role of government agencies and municipal governments in child care and safety.

What Does It Take to Become a Family Lawyer?

To practise as a family lawyer, you must possess particular personal qualities as well as necessary job experience. You'll also need to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the subject.

Is it right for me?

Working with both adults and children may be required as part of a family law career, so be ready for client interaction. You must be able to cope with these youngsters and adults if they find themselves in difficult situations.

It also helps if you have a strong desire to help others and want to improve your ability to manage relationships and engage with clients. As a family lawyer, your work will be very different from that of a tax lawyer, for example. It's also crucial to be able to separate yourself from the client and their problems on a personal level, as you must maintain a professional demeanour at all times.

What kind of work experience do I require?

If you want to work in family law, you should have the following professional experience:

Getting formal job experience or completing a vacation scheme with a firm that specialises in family law

Completing a mini pupillage with a barrister working on a family law matter.

Shadowing (marshalling) a judge who is hearing a family law case

Taking part in and winning awards in university family law essay competitions, demonstrating your passion in the topic.

Participating in pro bono family work in law clinics

What is the Role of a Family Lawyer?

Family lawyers exist to assist clients in better understanding their situation and resolving any challenges that may arise as a result of their family arrangement. They can design pre-nuptial agreements to safeguard a couple's financial interests before they marry, provide advice on the grounds for divorce or civil partnership dissolution, and draught separation agreements.

Following a divorce, family lawyers can advise on appropriate financial settlements and ensure that assets are shared fairly and fairly between the parties.

Family lawyers discuss agreements such as contact, residency, and access for children. They also make it easier to resolve specific concerns in a child's development, such as who has parental responsibility for certain child-related decisions.

Family lawyers are in the greatest position to request any court orders that are relevant to the case they are working on. A family lawyer can also assist clients with the in-court process if a settlement cannot be reached.

On a daily basis, a family lawyer may be required to:

Participate in client meetings

Analysed points of law in cases that are comparable to the ones they are working on.

Prepare legal papers such as witness statements by drafting them.

Investigate and assess evidence that may be useful to their clients.

Negotiate a settlement deal with the opposition.

Make a case in the family court.

Meet with barristers to discuss pending cases.

Attend court sessions before a judge or jury.

Family Law in the Private Sector

Cases taken forth by people are known as private family law cases. Divorce, civil partnership dissolution, and private child custody issues are examples of these.

Financial applications, special guardianship orders, and orders under s8 of the Children Act 1989 to determine a child's primary residence, parental contact, and other specific disputes may also be involved.

Public Family Law cases, on the other hand, are those brought forward to protect a child by local authorities or an accredited entity such as the NSPCC.

Care orders that place a child under the supervision of the local authority, supervision orders that place a kid under the supervision of the local authority, and emergency protection orders that secure a child's urgent safety are examples of these.

Arbitration in Family Law

Arbitration is a method of resolving disputes that takes place outside of the courtroom. It's a private, confidential process that's handled by a skilled arbiter.

A dedication to giving alternative dispute resolution, such as arbitration, to prevent potentially stressful court action is becoming more common in today's family law practise. To be able to provide such services to their clients, certain family lawyers may have trained as mediators or arbitrators.

Parties to a family law arbitration agreement agree to allow an arbitrator to resolve a dispute over funds or children that arises after a relationship has ended. They agree to be bound by the arbitrator's reasoned written ruling.

Arbitration is sometimes touted as being more expedient and adaptable than formal judicial decision-making. As a result, it is frequently less expensive than going to court.

Arbitration, on the other hand, is not for everyone. Arbitration may not be appropriate, for example, if one party is attempting to hide assets or if one of the parties is afraid of the other or is particularly vulnerable.

The 1996 Family Law Act:

The Family Law Act (FLA) is a piece of legislation that governs divorce and marital law. In 1996, it went into effect. The act's goal was to modernise the divorce process while still moving forward with the overall goal of saving marriages and making divorce less stressful.

The revised divorce procedure under this act, which included mandatory information meetings before divorce, was tested before to its introduction.

Despite its ostensibly beneficial intentions, the FLA 1996 was not well received in pilot testing. As a result, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 continued to contain essential rules surrounding divorce until the government's recent vow to adopt "no-fault divorce."