Resolution interview
Congratulations on winning the John Cornwell award – what does winning this award mean to you?
I can safely say I never thought I would be receiving the John Cornwell award - I think that was obvious from my acceptance speech! I am pleased, honoured and humbled to win and to join past recipients, who I admire and respect. A special thanks to Resolution for selecting me. Winning the John Cornwell award would not have been possible without the inspiration I have received from my family and friends and I am so grateful to have that. I have been so lucky to be trained by the most skilled, amazing people, who have had a massive impact on both my working and personal life. I am privileged to be able to work across the family law sector with local practitioners and colleagues at Resolution, The Family Law Committee of the Law Society, the Family Justice Council, the Family Mediation Council, academics and with decision-makers in government.
The award sits on my standing desk at home and, no matter the stresses and strains of the working day, it brings a smile to my face and a tangible sense of positivity.
You are qualified in a whole range of dispute resolution processes - collaborative, mediation, and child-inclusive qualified. What do you see as the key strengths of the different processes and how do you help clients choose the right approach?
A non-confrontational approach has always been at the heart of my work and this is why I am and have been so interested in finding new and better ways to approach family problems throughout my career.
A good comparison of the range of dispute resolution processes is detailed in the Mapping Paths to Family Justice academic research project (‘Mapping’), authored by Anne Barlow, Rosemary Hunter, Janet Smithson and Jan Ewing. The study compares which of the out of court family dispute resolution processes of solicitor negotiation, mediation and collaborative law suited which types of cases and parties. The key message of the report is that ‘one size does not fit all’. Therefore, being adaptable, with multiple DR skills and sensitive to the needs of the individual client is key.
Participants like collaborative law because it provides the opportunity to resolve problems quickly and in an amicable process with personal support. In order for collaborative law to thrive, we need to continue to strengthen the professional relationships between family lawyers. May we all continue to work together, nurture and support each other and help grow the unique community of Resolution as a dynamic, creative place to work.
The key strengths of mediation include building communication; the fact that it is a structured, future- and child-focussed process; that it is generally quick and better value for money; and participants consider a range of different options. Although some participants find the process difficult because trust is in short supply and communication is poor, I believe this can be addressed by the increased use of co-mediation, shuttle mediation, hybrid mediation and child-inclusive mediation. We need to ensure that the participants are prepared for the mediation process, in terms of both their emotions and the practicalities. I believe that mediation works best with the support and advice of pro-mediation lawyers and my experience of being a hybrid mediation practitioner confirms this.
Children are at the heart of our work. Child-inclusive mediation allows children and young people to be able to talk with a qualified and neutral person and feel listened to. The right of children to be consulted and have a say, if they wish, on decisions and arrangements that affect their lives (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989) is too often overlooked. Research has shown that the best outcomes for the children of separated parents depend upon quality, not quantity of time. Child-inclusive mediation works because it helps to improve communication between children and their parents and, thus, the quality of their time spent together. As the President outlined in his keynote address to national conference, 38% of couples go to court to resolve disagreements over their children and it is rare that those disagreements involve an issue of law. We must all be committed to diverting more cases like this away from court.
To help clients choose the best approach for them, they need information and to be guided towards appropriate choices that suit their situation. We also need to consider the clients’ emotional state when delivering information about options because it is difficult for clients to engage when they have experienced trauma. Working with other experts, such as counsellors and therapists, is a strength and it helps us to work in a better way to support emotionally vulnerable participants. We need to develop a blended approach to our work.
Proper safeguarding is essential for the safety of the public and for public confidence in the process. Mediation is not suitable for all cases and we must be alert to protecting our clients, knowing the limits and acting accordingly.
You are also a PPC, currently supervising 12 mediators. Supervision is a topical subject at the moment, with its own workshop at national conference and Chris Mills' new book on it. How would you persuade solicitors, who have no professional supervision requirement, of the benefits?
I attended the impressive supervision workshop at national conference, run by Chris Mills and Gillian Bishop and I would highly recommend Chris’ book “The Case That Really Got to Me”. I supervise wonderful and inspiring mediators and I am also supervised, not only as a mediator, but also in my work as a truth facilitator with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. My experience of being supervised is so positive, I wonder how family solicitors have managed without it.
Wellbeing was referred to by the President in his address at national conference and it is a key theme for YRes. Wellbeing goes hand-in-hand with supervision because it is an opportunity to share in a safe space, it results in better outcomes for clients, better professional relationships, opportunities to reflect and link knowledge and practice, increased confidence, skill development, greater awareness and understanding, and reduced stress. I think that the power of listening is generally underestimated, and the benefits become clear with good supervision.
In 2014 you were appointed to the National Mediation Task Force, which made recommendations to the MoJ, including the need to increase awareness of mediation. How is that working - are we seeing more mediations and greater client understanding of the process at the start? What are your experiences on the ground?
The Ministry of Justice's own statistics for legal aid show that the number of MIAMs fell sharply after LASPO was introduced. At the same time that demand has reduced, the number of those willing to go to court is rising generally.
Having worked with other colleagues to promote family mediation locally in Merseyside and Cheshire since 2014, I believe that the publicity for mediation needs to be initiated and prominently led at a national level across different platforms for it to have an attitude-changing impact and become embedded in our family law culture. I will continue to work to raise awareness of the out-of-court resolution options available to people at the point of divorce/separation, to avoid inappropriate choices, but we need more clout.
We need to develop better referral strategies and advertising for the MIAM (or more aptly named Assessment and Information Meeting - ‘AIM’) and, after the triage stage, tackle conversion rates into mediation. It is more difficult for mediators to attract clients because mediation requires both parties to agree to mediate before the process can start. The Family Mediation Taskforce identified the marketing and participant retention problems, which sit alongside higher conflict levels and poorer communication between the participants.
I would encourage practitioners to canvass their local MP to raise awareness of the benefits of keeping family disputes out of the courts. My MP knew nothing about mediation until I met with her recently, and she welcomed acquiring the knowledge to help her constituents. Perhaps this could be a new campaign for Resolution?
Do you think the no-fault developments might encourage or help mediations in the sense that it would help create a less adversarial atmosphere from the start?
Definitely. Resolution has been calling for the change of our archaic divorce laws for over thirty years and I am proud to have supported our successful campaigning throughout my career. When consulting with the MoJ, I made the point that the Resolution Code of Practice is based upon reducing or managing any conflict and confrontation and to help clients understand long-term consequences. Fault-based divorce essentially encourages dwelling on the past and this leads to an adversarial atmosphere in mediation. Often, couples in dispute naturally argue about the ‘truths’, contained in the divorce petition. I find that ‘truth’ is an interesting concept. In the words of Marcus Aurelias, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” I hope that the legislation can be introduced as soon as possible because, by avoiding the blame game, we secure a better start to mediation, better chances of a successful outcome and better chances for any children caught up in divorce. This is at the heart of the Resolution Code of Practice, envisaged by our founders, including John Cornwell.
You are also cited in the John Cornwell nomination for having developed and presented training on mediation awareness for court staff and changes to the family justice system - do you think in these straitened times the court staff could be playing a greater role?
It was revealed last year that the government's court modernisation programme could result in the loss of 6,500 jobs by 2022, with staff numbers falling from 16,500 at the start of the reform programme to just over 10,000. Although I welcome the digitalisation of processes, with the consequent reduction in error rates, I believe that we cannot run a family justice system without experienced court staff and that it is important to have a good relationship with them, particularly since the pressure has increased upon all of us working in the system. It is unfortunate that the cuts to public spending and the time and money spent on Brexit have had such a negative impact on family justice and there appears to be no end in sight.
Despite all the negatives in the profession, from LASPO to court closures, to stress and the rise in self-represented clients, would you still recommend it as a career to those starting out?
Yes, because even though we live in challenging times for family law, our clients will always need expert legal advice. We need to be constructive and innovative in our approach to the rapid pace of change, so that we will always be the leaders in family law. I would encourage those just starting their careers in family law to invest in developing their own toolkit of approaches across family law, not only to improve the services they are able to offer to clients, but also to improve their impact in helping families resolve their issues in the most appropriate way. Three key skills are managing the conflict of clients and lawyers; putting children first; and how to listen well. Being able to access skills from different approaches like collaborative practice and mediation is a key asset for practitioners today, so that we can concentrate on the problem-solving exercise that lies before us.
The message of Mapping concluded in 2014 that ‘one size does not fit all’ and I think this provides excellent guidance for family law practitioners starting out today. The follow up project, ‘Creating Paths to Family Justice’, is another essential read, particularly for budding entrepreneurs of technology in family law and its development to triage appropriately and undertake online assessments. The conclusion of that report states that “to succeed in meeting the post-LASPO challenge mediation now needs a combination of evolution and revolution within its structures, practice and ideologies to enable it to serve the needs of those separating as well and as far as it possibly can in the new DR landscape.”
My tips are to join YRes, embrace a variety of approaches, be flexible in your approach, find a supervisor, develop your listening skills and hone your conflict management. I’m sure the future of our profession lies in safe hands.
To sum up, and as the great mediator Henry Brown says, the job is all about ‘boundaried empathy’ and I have adopted that as my guide.