Family lawyers must adapt to survive in the year ahead, says Geraldine Morris
Last year was a challenging year for family lawyers and in 2012 there are many more challenges ahead. This may be the year that the practice of family law changes beyond all recognition and lawyers who do not adapt may not survive in a climate of new competition and the continuing economic downturn.
Cuts
With the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) looking to make inroads into the £2bn of savings it must make overall, 40% of courts have or will be closed and staff levels slashed with an estimated 15,000 jobs lost—one third of the total staff employed by the MoJ. Combined with the anticipated cuts to legal aid as a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (currently slowly navigating its way through Parliament), the challenge will be how to tackle a much reduced court service burdened with increasing numbers of litigants in person.
ADR
The Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), which came into force on 6 April 2011, introduced the pre-action protocol
