Family
Family specialists choose employee ownership over acquisition
The founders of a specialist family law firm have spurned potential acquirors to transfer it instead into an employee ownership trust, saying the move sends a positive signal to would-be staff.
Divorce litigation becoming unaffordable for all but the rich, warns judge
Financial remedy litigation seems to be “fast heading for Ritz Hotel status – so expensive that it is only accessible by the very rich”, a senior family judge warned yesterday.
Online rule committee will be catalyst for digital justice, says Birss
The work of the new Online Procedure Rules Committee will help connect the whiplash portal and other pre-action regimes to the court system electronically, the deputy head of civil justice has said.
Fixed-fee family law information service aims to “fill knowledge gap”
A fixed-fee family law information service was launched this week to “fill a real gap in public knowledge” about the divorce process, and ensure people are properly informed before seeing a solicitor.
Research: Family law market grows as number of firms falls
The family law market grew by 4.1% in 2021 and the rate of growth should increase in the coming years, but the number of law firms in the field is falling, a new report has found.
Treat family separations “as transactions, not litigation”
Family separation cases should “operate in a transactional way, as with conveyancing, rather than under the banner of litigation”, the chair of the Family Solutions Group has argued.
Litigation funder can be joined to financial remedy proceedings
A litigation funder owed up to £1m by the wife in a “bitterly contested” divorce can be joined as a party to the financial remedy proceedings, the High Court has ruled.
More deals on the way as family law giant makes first acquisition
The chairman of Stowe Family Law has said further acquisitions are likely following its first purchase of a law firm, Chapman Pieri in north London, earlier this month.
Family lawyers “should be asking clients about the menopause”
Family lawyers should be asking their clients whether the menopause is having an impact on them, the founder of the Family Law Menopause Project has said.
Judge terminates appointment of guardian who criticised solicitor
A circuit judge has terminated the appointment of the guardian of a young child in care proceedings after he criticised the father’s solicitor in a letter to the law firm’s head of department.
Blog
Microsoft 365’s dirty little secret
Microsoft 365 (formerly called Office 365) is one of the most widely used cloud services in the world, controlling around 48% of the market share for major office suites.
A new route to practice rights for chartered legal executives
Following approval from the Legal Services Board in May 2022, CILEx Regulation has launched an alternative route for chartered legal executives to obtain independent practice rights.
NFTs, the courts and the role of injunctions
In May, news broke that a non-fungible token was the subject of a successful injunction made by the Singapore High Court. The NFT in question is part of the very valuable Bored Ape Yacht Club series.
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