Family law: is it the path for you?

Not enough young lawyers are coming into family law, but it is a challenging and rewarding area of practice that more should consider

The Journal, November 2004, page 9

If you are a student in the law faculty, a trainee or a junior court assistant then read on. If you are looking for some different direction in your legal career read on. If you are involved in or concerned about recruitment and the development of your firm, do read on.

The Family Law Association in Scotland has members covering the length and breadth of the country and there is an abundance of work for family lawyers everywhere. The rate of divorce has not fallen. Relationships become more complicated following second and third marriages and the difficulties that arise on the breakdown of relationships in relation to matters of finance and children. A number of specialist practices have been formed in the major cities to deal with family law. Currently, across Scotland, the public is extremely well served by very experienced, hardworking and dedicated family lawyers who thoroughly enjoy the challenges that each day and each case bring. What, however, we are not seeing in Scotland are budding family lawyers coming through in sufficient numbers to learn and benefit from the experience of those at the senior end of their profession.

The Family Law Association will, in the coming year, promote the choice of family law as a career at university level and also strive to build on its membership. Why should you, as a student, a trainee or a solicitor looking at a change of direction consider family law? It is immensely challenging and you must have extensive legal skills: there are vast areas of black letter law to assimilate and advise clients on, but a career in family law is something to be proud of and can be very rewarding. You are dealing closely with clients at a very stressful time in their lives, often succeeding in helping them despite themselves!

There is a very high level of responsibility in advising families in breakup situations. Your advice may avoid a child’s life being ruined by the actions of uncaring/unthinking parents. You may be called on to advise a wealthy client on the division of matrimonial property including shares in the family company, and to pass on to your private client department the trust fund they wish to set up for the children, the will, the house sale and purchase. Your advocacy skills are honed from appearances in court, learning by observing others (and attending FLA courses!) The achievement of successful outcomes in these cases gives a great deal of job satisfaction.

The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985, by its very nature, gives family lawyers with inventive and challenging legal minds considerable opportunity for examining new and different ways of persuading the courts to apply the principles for financial provision. In an ever-shrinking world, with international travel and work becoming more prevalent, marriages frequently have foreign dimensions, leading to complex legal entanglements just waiting for your trained mind to unravel. Family law clients are frequently involved in businesses, together or with others, and this gives rise to numerous and interesting legal complications.

At present, the government has family law in the forefront with its recent consultation on “Improving Family Law in Scotland”, as a result of which we will see a new Family Law Bill very shortly. If this passes into law then we may have further fields to explore and add to our arsenal of knowledge, such as knowledge of rights for cohabiting couples, extended rights for unmarried fathers and rights for step-parents.

All these potential changes and the challenge of every case being different mean that there is never a dull moment in family law, and for the practitioner who wants to experience a real sense of accomplishment, it is an area of the law that delivers. For more information about your career path, log onto the new Family Law Association website (www.fla-scotland.co.uk) or speak to any member of the Association.