To help try to limit the impact on you and your family, we will discuss with you a range of out-of-court options that enable you to find a solution that avoids the emotional stress and financial cost of court adjudicated outcomes. This also has the added benefit of keeping the dispute away from the prying eyes of the divorce hungry media.

Options include mediation, collaboration and arbitration, and we have experts in all three. Many of our lawyers have been involved in bringing these approaches to life. Diana Parker co-founded the Family Mediators Association in England, and Suzanne Kingston wrote (and teaches both in England and abroad) the family law arbitration training course. A number of our lawyers in Hong Kong and London are qualified collaborative practitioners. In addition to leading the way in the ‘know how’ for the deployment of these option processes, we have also been involved in a key precedent setting case (S v P 2008) which all other collaborative cases now follow. In that case, Suzanne Todd acted for the mother in establishing a procedural shortcut for couples seeking English court approval for their agreement reached through the collaborative process.

Choosing one of these non-court options can save you both money and time, but also will protect you against trauma and invasion of your privacy. We will talk you through these options in the first meeting whilst you are setting your case strategy, so you have the information you need to choose your best option.