A family solicitor friend told me just this morning (1 April 2014) some statistics that made my hair stand on end.
They shine a very clear light on how separating couples behave when afraid and why family professionals should be also afraid.
However, fear can be productive if we all focus on it in a positive way, as an underlying cause of something that must be addressed .
Let’s face it separating clients need support and we family professionals want to support them, are able to support them and, of course need the work.
The courts in England and Wales report that
In 2009
5% of separated couples did not have a lawyer in court, in 33% cases one lawyer was instructed and in 63% of cases both parties instructed lawyers.
That was only 5 years ago!
In 2012
19% of separated couples did not have a lawyer in court, in 61% cases one lawyer was instructed and in 20% of cases both parties instructed lawyers.
Notice the trend?
2013
42% of separated couples did not have a lawyer in court, in 51% of cases one lawyer was instructed and in only 4% of cases both parties instructed lawyers.
So, without too much interpretation, what does this tell us and how can we respond?
This tells me that there are a lot of fearful clients out there who think that they need to go to court but cannot afford a lawyer to represent them.
It tells me that Judges must be pulling their hair out trying to manage some very emotional couples representing themselves.
It tells me that family solicitors will be out of work unless they find other ways of supporting their clients which does not involve court.
It also tells me that from the 22 April this year we are likely to see a significant increase in mediations when all those wishing to go to court are directed to a mediation information meeting with family mediator. This will be nearly 70% of those who currently go to court without lawyers.
Essentially, we are seeing a power shift from family solicitors to family mediators but in truth we are seeing an emergence of the imperative for family solicitors and mediators to find ways of working together.
How do we family professionals respond? The key is in focussing on and meeting the fears and frustrations that couples have when separating, which is currently driving them to court. These fears need to be addressed, diffused and managed if the court numbers are going to reduce.
Also, we need to find much better, more integrated, cohesive and efficient ways of working together as mediators, lawyers, therapists, financial experts and child experts, to provide a ‘joined up’ service which meets these fears and, supports couples to sort out things out for themselves when their marriage breaks down.
Essentially, a process which focusses on self determination, self empowerment, responsibility for self and accountability. This is the subject matter of subsequent blogs in this series.