Penny Booth: The power of the word

When I read (as one often does in family law generally) of the corrosive nature of family disputes I am really glad that I no longer have parental responsibility for anyone - my own children being in their twenties. Sandra Davis asks how it is that intelligent people (or indeed anyone) can go through years of apparently intractable personal dispute spending time and money (nay life-blood) in argument and count-argument over their children. I surmise that the answers lie in the relationships involved - after all when a relationship which was once intended to be ‘forever' ends one argues over the custody of the toast rack.

In her opinion piece Amandeep Gill makes similar points around this issue of negotiation and writes: "There is a great deal to commend the use of mediation in certain disputes even those involving protracted litigation as evidenced by Lord Justice Thorpe's judgment in Al-Khatib v Masry [2005] 1 FLR 381. Mediation is not however a panacea...

Read the full article here.