Today sees a fundamental change in the rules that govern the approach to out-of-court options within family court proceedings. 👩⚖️
From today, non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) options must be at the heart of all family law cases. The definition of NCDR has been expanded within the Family Procedure Rules 2010 to include of a whole suite of out-of-court options (including collaborative law, arbitration, early neutral evaluation and Private FDRs). ⚖
The court will require proof that NCDR options have been explored, and a new form is introduced where parties must set out their views on using NCDR to resolve the issues in their case. 📃
The court now has greater powers in penalising parties who have not engaged in NCDR, and costs orders are likely to flow where a party has failed to engage without good reason. 💸
In our team, we understand and have hands-on experience of the range of options available to resolve family disputes, to ensure that court really is a last resort. Many of our cases are settled without involvement of the court, including through mediation, arbitration and round table meetings. We also regularly use ENEs and Private FDRs successfully, across our local, national and international cases. Myself, Daniel and Laura are all collaboratively-trained lawyers, and Pippa is a qualified mediator. 🤓
This is a positive and welcome move from family law practitioners who understand, and have on-the-ground experience of how beneficial the range of NCDR options available can be. Understandably though, the options and acronyms can be confusing for clients and can need clear explanation. 💡
Feel free to drop me a line if you think this new change might impact your situation or someone you know – always happy to have a chat over a cuppa. ☕
#ncdr #outofcourtsettlement #familylaw #familylawyer #courtproceedings
Director, Practice Development - West at JAMS
4wA proud moment for JAMS and our neutrals who helped bring this important pro bono mediation program to life, who serve in leadership at ICLC, and those that give hours to the program. Special thanks to Vidhya Ragunathan at ICLC who shared in our vision of what this program could become!