As Court delays are here to stay, you could try alternative dispute resolution.
It has recently been reported in a leading legal journal, the Gazette Online, that Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service estimates that private law family cases may not return to pre-Covid levels for another three years.
The Family Justice Board issued a statement in December 2020 summarising priority actions to alleviate ‘immediate pressures’ and begin longer-term reform.
It was noted that the backlogs in private law cases have increased by 18% since before the start of the March lockdown. For those cases being heard, the average time to conclude a case is now 29 weeks.
The national average case time for public law cases is currently 10 weeks above the 26-week statutory time limit.
Possible solutions include considering the viability of conducting more hearings on paper and recruiting additional staff, or creating more Nightingale courts.
Alternatively, at Boardman, Hawkins and Osborne LLP we can also offer solicitor negotiation, mediation and collaborative law as an alternative to the Court process.
For further information please do not hesitate to contact BH&O either by telephone or by email and one of our team will be happy to assist and guide you through the options.
Karen Newman, consultant solictor
