Family Mediation: Contemporary Issues (Paperback)

Reviews

"My review" by Phillip T. - 19 June 2020

WHERE MEDIATION MEETS THE LAW: ESSENTIAL READING FOR FAMILY LAW PRACTITIONERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES AS WELL AS SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator Current wisdom in the legal profession, particularly among family lawyers, as well as the judiciary, is that opting for mediation between disputatious clients, is preferable to going to law, with all its attendant financial and emotional difficulties - and of course, the law’s delay. Because of the Covid pandemic the legal landscape may -- and indeed must change, but in what direction? Very few of us will be able to say with any degree of certainty. But what is becoming increasingly clear, is that at the time of writing, the means and methods by which family disputes may be settled will have to undergo change, precipitated by the bizarre but necessary restrictions of lockdown. Mediation, with its now well-established principles and processes, offers a sensible and less time-consuming way to resolve a good many of the often-intractable problems of family disputes. What is certain and well-nigh indisputable, is that many family laws matters will in the future, be dealt with in virtual hearings anyway, so why not mediate? Answer: because most clients are visibly hostile to the very idea of mediation, not to mention the expense. Little do they realise that mediation, despite the initial fee levels, normally works out cheaper in the longer term. Fortunately for family practitioners in these difficult times, Bloomsbury Professional have published a timely, important, and authoritative contribution to the literature of family mediation. Under the able editorship of Marian Roberts and Maria Federica Moscati, this book entitled “Family Mediation: Contemporary Issues” provides readers with a broad spectrum of pertinent and carefully researched insights on family mediation from seventeen contributors, each highly qualified and offering a wealth of expertise and experience in this complex area of dispute resolution. A valuable source of current thinking and informed consultancy is here in one handy volume. This excellent book covers an amazingly wide spectrum of contemporary issues pertaining to mediation, from professional regulation and ethical considerations, to the impact of domestic abuse and the voice of the child in family mediation. Scholarly as well as readable, it is a book which will no doubt be regarded as essential reading for lawyers as well as meditators, who should lose no time in acquiring it. The date of publication of this paperback edition is cited as at 19th May 2020.