Internet Newsletter for Lawyers |
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Having now returned to England, I find that there has been some progress in
web resources in family law especially in government or public funded
organisations. However, family law professionals and clients who make
extensive use of the web for many aspects of their lives do not always get the
help they could expect from family law web resources. Nevertheless we have
some sites, including some aimed at young people, which are among the best
in the world.
For myself, I could not now contemplate practising without online access to the
Jordans new service, preferably with the Butterworths site as well. Both are
brilliant sites. We now have a totally divided profession; those who go first, and
almost only, to the e-libraries and those who still use things which come from
trees!
A new and top quality service which has new cases, up to the minute
developments, articles and other resources with CPD courses and a free weekly
e-mail bulletin is Family Law Week (www.familylawweek.co.uk) which is aimed
at those who are comfortable with e-resources and prefer their news to arrive
on their desktop via computer rather than in plastic envelopes.
A good, free place for judgments is the British and Irish Legal Information
Institute (www.bailii.org) with judgments of Court of Appeal and a few High Court
cases. This is an excellent site (with worldwide links) and one worth reading
every so often for reported family cases. The Office of Public Sector Information
(incorporating HM Stationary Office) site (www.opsi.gov.uk) has the full text of
all public Acts of Parliament from 1988 onwards. A very good resource, but
beware that it does not incorporate any later parliamentary amendments.
The Courts Service (www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk) offers information on daily
court lists for the Family Division and PRFD, some recent practice directions and
excellent information in relation to court fees for family proceedings. It provides
addresses, phone and fax numbers and maps for the courts. One can download
many family Court forms. It has also a pilot online forms service where forms
can be completed and submitted online, a service a few of us have been asking
for in family law for many years. However the pilot courts are civil only, so can
we try this very soon please in the family jurisdiction? It is very suitable to our
work and answers the needs of both professionals and the intelligent litigant in
person who is familiar with IT. Very good though the site is, it still does not have
explanations of family law procedure (with flow charts of time table and linked
forms) nor user friendly information of what to expect at court. It can still learn
a lot from the Australian Family Court web site (www.familycourt.gov.au), which
is probably the best in the world.
In contrast, the Law Society (www.lawsociety.org.uk) is rather disappointing on
family law. It still does not have the Law Society Protocol online - the standards
governing the way all solicitors should practice family law. If online, it could then
be downloaded to use in court documents, letters to clients etc. There is a list
of Panel members but no family law information for lawyers and clients and little
information on what work the society itself is doing.
The Family Law Bar Association (www.flba.co.uk) has a useful site with details
of their lectures and some excellent lecture notes, details of recent practice
developments, their regional groups and their commitment to ethnic minorities.
Then there are the mediators. The UK College of Family Mediators
(www.ukcfm.co.uk) is as close as possible to a UK regulatory body. The site lists
mediator members by area, although this only highlights how few mediators
belong to it. There are mediators in other organisations but the English public
is nowhere given an online list of all mediators, legal aid and private, across the
country subscribing to minimum standards. Little wonder mediation still
struggles. The site no longer has the mediation Form E nor its Codes of Best
Practice. There is only a small amount of information about mediation itself.
Could not all mediation organisations co-fund a site, linked to their own, which
sells mediation itself to a still sceptical public and legal profession, rather than
highlighting their differences?
The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers strive for higher standards in this
difficult area of work, from lawyers, experts and others. Their site
(www.childabuselawyers.com) shows their commendable Code of practice but
as with some other sites, they no longer have some vital information immediately
available, which used to include information to explain to survivors of child abuse
what to expect and seek when visiting a lawyer, how it will feel and the personal
impact of the court process. This is a real pity.
The Family Rights Group (www.frg.org.uk) provides independent advice,
information and advocacy to families involved with social services about the care
and protection of their children. Its site gives valuable help including about
Family Group Conferencing.
The Association of Lawyers for Children supports lawyers working in cases
concerning children (www.alc.org.uk). The site is committed to its members.
Rather than have its own fact sheets and perhaps duplicate what is elsewhere,
it has excellent links to related organisations.
In fact, many member organisations now put more information in “member only”
sections. Apart from the fact that I can never remember usernames and
passwords to gain access, it makes non members wonder what is going on
behind! Is it really necessary?
On child abduction, three sites are outstanding:
The best site dealing with domestic violence is Refuge (www.refuge.org.uk) with
details of their 24 hour hotline and emergency steps to take, as well as
information on how to minimise danger and an exposure of the myths of
domestic abuse. I have a vision of free internet terminals available in shops and
public places, and this site is one to which access for all members of society is
crucial. Part of abuse can be the control of information of rights and remedies,
and we must make such web access very available. The site covers the issue
of what abusers must do to change and refers to Respect (www.respect.uk.net)
which works with perpetrators of violence. Domestic abuse affects children badly
and The Hideout (www.thehideout.org.uk) is a first rate child orientated site for
children and young people who witness abuse at home.
A top site is Divorce Aid (www.divorceaid.co.uk) which has many excellent fact
sheets on aspects of family breakdown; legal, financial, children and holistic.
This is an incredible resource which deserves even more praise as it is run as
a voluntary enterprise.
The Legal Services Commission (www.clsdirect.org.uk) has a good area of the
site listing much sought information but then links to other sites. It explains the
work of the Community Legal Services Fund. Legal aid has been replaced by a
whole series of partnership providers of assistance in various forms, from
conventional lawyers to other organisations as diverse as motoring
organisations. The site lists their partners and what each organisation can do.
It has a basic calculator for entitlement to legal aid.
CAFCASS (www.cafcass.gov.uk) now has an immense and very user friendly
site, with areas directed specifically to children, teenagers and parents.
The leading international organisation is the International Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers (www.iaml.org) which has a list of its approximately 300
peer elected members across the world. This is the best place to start to find an
international lawyer abroad if one has no other contacts.
The Land Registry (www.landreg.gov.uk) describes its work and provides online
data about properties for a minimal fee.
If you need to check on housing proposed as suitable accommodation, try
www.upmystreet.co.uk which includes the age and wealth of local residents and
average prices! www.findaproperty.com allows one to search for properties in
different areas and to get an idea of what is on the market, including rental
information, which is so very helpful in preparing for trial.
Equal Partners (www.equalpartners.co.uk) is a financial services practice in
London whose site contains a massive amount of valuable information on
financial products, a glossary of terms and explanations, best deals for loans,
ISAs, deposits and calculations of investments, school fees policies and returns
on lump sums.
Companies House (www.companieshouse.co.uk) says one of its duties is to
make information about companies available to the public - but this is not yet
online.
I have not included lawyers’ own sites which would need an article of its own, but
some are very good with lots of excellent, clearly presented information. Finding
details of law firms can be done via a search engine but I prefer to use Delia
Venables’ site (www.venables.co.uk).
Portals with free information but primarily acting as referrals for lawyers, who
have probably paid for the links, include www.lawontheweb.co.uk,
www.divorce-online.co.uk and www.family-solicitors.co.uk. Some offer divorce
purchase kits with forms, draft orders and agreements. This is sometimes
criticised by divorce lawyers but what is wrong in making forms available to the
public? If all we have is an ability to fill in forms, I will retire to dive off the Barrier
Reef!
The Web has taught us what we are needed for as family lawyers. It is not
information. That is freely available. It is not calculations. They are to be found
everywhere. It is not DIY help whether quasi counselling or helping to cope
personally or for children. It is not remote and generalised advice via e-mail.
The web has freed us up to do what has always been our chief role - to gain
experience of people and relationships and to understand the law in both its
narrow and wider operation and so to bring our clients through the most
traumatic period in their lives, with fair outcomes, intact self respect and
functional children and with minimum of stress and costs. The resources for us
and our clients are there on the web. It just now needs us to be better family
lawyers. This is what we really are needed for and what we are best able to do.
And to do our job very well, we need to use the web resources.
David Hodson is family law resolution specialist practising in London, Surrey and
Sydney, an English and Australian qualified solicitor and mediator, an arbitrator
and a part time Family Court judge (DDJ) in London (PRFD). He writes and
speaks extensively on family law. His web site is at
www.davidhodson.com.
Email dh@davidhodson.com.
Back to Contents.
Website Resources for the Family Lawyer and Client (2005)
I first wrote an article with this title in 2002; some useful resources in the general
area of family law were coming onto the web at that time. Since then, I have
been mainly working in Sydney and I found that Australia is much further ahead
of England in web usage in daily life e.g. internet banking, bill payments, tax
returns, public information, court forms and procedures and so on. Australian
web resources in family law are very good, and some lead the world.
by David Hodson
Legal Resources
Resources still start for lawyers with e-libraries which have improved massively
in the past few years. The leading ones are LexisNexis (www.lexisnexis.co.uk)
with the Butterworths titles, Jordans (www.familylaw.co.uk) with the niche Family
Law titles, FLR cases and many court forms, Justis (www.justis.com) with FLR
and WLR and other cases and a full set of statutes, Lawtel (www.lawtel.com)
with all the Sweet and Maxwell materials and a great deal of useful, up to date
information and Westlaw (www.westlaw.co.uk). Each have a massive amount of
information and materials, some sites being totally family law orientated and
some being general sites with family law materials. Some have regular
e-newsletters of updates. The sites are easy to use and you do not need to
worry about books scattered (and lost) around an office. All offer trial periods so
each practice and practitioner can decide what is best. Professional Organisations
The Solicitors Family Law Association, now rebadged as resolution,
(www.resolution.org.uk) is the leading family lawyers association in the world,
famously having changed the whole culture by its conciliatory Code of Practice
in 1982. The site lists members but there could be more information about them.
It has the ground breaking Code but not their Guides to Good Practice which is
an omission. It has details of local groups. Crucially it has really excellent fact
sheets for members of the public and lawyers.Children and Families
One of the chief changes I have noticed after two years abroad has been the
widespread expectation that there will be much greater contact and parental
involvement for fathers. Families Need Fathers (www.fnf.org.uk) has been the
primary organisation over the years supporting their cause. The organisation
does excellent work, pastorally and in providing guidance on rights and
entitlements, with the site providing information sheets, local support gatherings
etc. It is a site to which many clients can be well referred.
A brilliant and very colourful site is Carelaw for children in care
(www.carelaw.org.uk). It is packed with information and presented in simple
terms for young people. Another good site is the NCH (www.itsnotyourfault.org)
which has similar top quality child directed information with the central message
of the web address!Finance
Much finance work involves complex calculations. The CSA (www.csa.gov.uk)
site has details of its work and a self calculator. It spells out the 2003 changes
and publishes the enforcement guides.Other Sources
The European Union site (www.europa.eu.int) can be difficult to navigate but has
the Brussels conventions if one can find them. The Hague Conventions are also
available (www.hcch.net).