Could a single legal adviser mean a less traumatic divorce? Samantha Laurie on how to make parting sweeter sorrow...
We all know someone who has been through a toxic divorce, battling over children and finances in a legal system that seems designed to ratchet up confrontation and cost. At the sharp end, family law barrister Samantha Woodham has witnessed the process at its most extreme.
“In my day-to-day practice, I rarely see divorcing couples walk away having spent less than six figures. It’s all terribly slow and adversarial and the emotional cost is enormous,” says the Barnes lawyer who, with fellow barrister Harry Gates, has launched the UK’s first service offering impartial legal advice – principally on finances – to both parties at the same time.
“What happens at present is that each partner appoints his or her own solicitor from the outset. The two parties often give very different ‘takes’ on the facts to their respective lawyers and it can take several months for all that information to be exchanged; for everyone to see the true picture.
“We are turning the current model on its head. If we know what’s really happening and what the financial picture is on day one, we can explain how the court will view it and get the couple talking before they become entrenched in their positions or develop unrealistic expectations.”
The Divorce Surgery boasts a simple concept. For a fixed fee (circa £4,750 plus VAT), each couple has two meetings with a family law barrister at the Temple chambers where the surgery is based: a brief introductory session, at which each partner is seen separately, followed by a joint advice session to sketch a realistic outcome, reinforced with a detailed written advice. Typically, the whole process takes 6-8 weeks.
In fact, the idea is not new – single-source legal advice is the norm in much of Europe. Here, by contrast, solicitors are subject to conflict rules which bar them from advising both parties. Not so barristers, however, as Samantha discovered when asked by friends for practical help with their impending divorce. After checking with the Bar Standards Board that no ethical issues arose from advising both parties, she realised that such a process could benefit others too.
It’s not for everyone: couples need to agree about their asset pool and to prepare their own financial disclosures individually after the first meeting. Any allegations of non-disclosure – or if child safeguarding or abuse issues should arise – and they are advised to instruct separate solicitors. Some 20% of couples fall away in the (free) telephone screening that happens before the sessions take place.
For the vast majority of clients, finances are the key concern, but child arrangements and parenting plans can also be addressed at a separate session. The main thing is that the process does not exacerbate hostility.
“The aim is to avoid going to court, which is so difficult for families,” says Samantha. “Couples fall out over money and they end up in a nuclear winter in which every subsequent interaction is subject to conflict.”
So far so good: calm has prevailed.
“The individual meetings are where people can vent if they need to. The joint sessions are quite civilised, as the couples are there for our legal expertise – it’s not interactive, as in mediation. And it helps for each party to hear the other receive unwelcome advice. Divorce is always a compromise, so it’s good for the couples to see that they’re both giving a bit. Ultimately, the sooner they find an answer, the sooner they can start to rebuild their lives.”
