Our readers have their say on shifting sands in family law, regulation of company ownership and prenups
Settling up
SIR – The numerous references in your article ‘Modern family’ (Spear’s 84) to the use of alternative methods to litigation for finding early solutions in financial cases on divorce are testament to the development, over the past 20 years, of the legal profession’s ability to find early and creative solutions to settling cases.
Mediation, conciliation, collaboration and arbitration have all evolved as alternatives to litigation, with its inevitable emphasis upon delay and cost. It is still, however, either a combination of one of these alternatives with the Court process, or still having recourse to the Court, when necessary, that brings the process to a quicker and more mutually satisfactory conclusion.
London still has good reason for being described as the divorce capital of the world, and whilst it is perhaps not quite so generous to the weaker party (usually the wife) as it used to be, it can still be relied upon to investigate the nature, size and extent of resources outside its own jurisdiction and/or held in the name of a third party and to bring them into account. So yes, we have come a long way and we are still developing – arbitration in particular – but we have now a generation of lawyers who have grown up with these techniques at their fingertips and are determined to use them to maximum effect.
