Article in the North East Times
The recent publication of the Legal 500 once again confirmed Major Family Law as a first tier firm and commended Joanne Major as being one of the Leading Individuals in Legal Practice, “a force to be reckoned with”. She is the only Family Lawyer listed in this prestigious table within the North East.
The formidable Mrs. Major has built a highly successful niche practice and this year, all fee-earning solicitors within the firm achieved personal recognition in the Legal 500, including newcomer Jo Hall who was acknowledged as “a star in the making”. Joanne acknowledges that the complementary skills, energy and dedication of her current team have helped to ensure excellent results for clients both in the UK and internationally.
Major Family Law has a reputation for being innovative, for pushing boundaries and for taking on complex cases which other family lawyers in the region have not felt confident enough to take on. This pioneering approach is vitally important because in the next 12 months Family Law is to undergo some dramatic changes.
Proposals to change the adversarial nature of the family court and speed up cases within England and Wales mean that a single family court, instead of the current three tiered system, will be introduced in 2013. Child Maintenance is being reformed and the Law commission has recommended scaling back lifetime divorce settlements which will affect high -net -worth cases. At a time when budgets all round are being slashed and Legal Aid is about to disappear forever there is also huge concern that there will be a large rise in the number of self-represented parties in court which will then lead to delays in private cases.
The first “Dispute Resolution week” took place on the 24-28th September. The idea was instigated by Resolution, the solicitor’s family law body with the aim of launching a national awareness raising campaign to promote the benefits of Dispute Resolution to the public and key influencers. Resolution say: “We want to ensure that non-court based options and the positive role that mediation, collaborative law, arbitration and other Dispute Resolution solutions can play in divorce and separation, are known to as many people as possible.” It is estimated that through activities across England and Wales from grass roots to national level, some 10,000,000 people read or heard about alternatives to the traditional court based resolution of family disputes during that week which culminated in the annual Dispute Resolution Conference in Oxford.
Thankfully, Major Family Law has invested heavily in ensuring that all specialist lawyers are fully trained in the most current Family Law methods and are ready to embrace these changes. Major Family Law is able to offer a solution focussed, full specialist service. No two family law issues are the same and Major Family Law is able to tailor each process according to the need, whether, Mediation or Collaborative is required or in certain circumstances a more traditional approach.
All the team at Major Family Law are members of Resolution, the national organisation of family lawyers committed to non-confrontational divorce and separation and three out of four specialist solicitors are trained in Collaborative Law. This is a relatively new method whereby both parties agree not to go to court at the outset and then work together with their lawyers in a series of meetings to allow people to separate with dignity and to reach a settlement which is agreed to be fair to both sides
The firm has been able to use Social Media to forge new connections with leading National Law Firms and earlier in the year organised the first national Family Law Tweet-up in London, taking the firm’s reputation for excellence beyond the region. Major Family Law is able to draw on its network of fellow Family Lawyers, national experts in a wide array of matters from forensic accountancy to international law and other specialist advisors to assist with any particularly thorny legal issues as and when they arise.
Major Family Law aim to resolve family issues with discretion, sensitivity and professionalism backed by unrivalled knowledge, commitment and meticulous attention to detail. They have the expertise to find a solution that best suits the client’s particular circumstances.
At this time of unprecedented change within the Family Justice system, Major Family Law remains firmly “at the top of the tree”.
Major Family Law, the Divorce and Family Law Specialists.
12 West Road, Ponteland, Newcastle Upon Tyne. T: 01661 82 45 82
www.majorfamilylaw.co.uk. Twitter: @majorfamilylaw