Uploaded July 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
BOOK REVIEW
FAMILY LAW ARBITRATION
Practice & Precedents
3rd edition
By Dennis Sheridan and Suzanne Kingston
ISBN 978 1 52652 207 8
Bloomsbury Professional/Family Law
bloomsburyprofessionallaw.com/online
FAMILY LAW ARBITRATION: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW REGARDING PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE --WITH A FOREWORD BY DAVID NEUBERGER
An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
Money -- and children – these, as mentioned in the foreword to this useful work of reference, are ‘the main types of private family law disputes.’
The difficulties for practitioners involved in such disputes are
compounded by the ever-present legacy of what you might call ‘the post-covid era’ with the resulting pressure on the courts, not to mention the scarcity of judges. There is much to be said therefore, for family law arbitration. ‘When the family courts are under pressure,’ says Lord Neuberger, ‘arbitration offers a very attractive alternative.’
In acrimonious disputes in which there seems to be no end in sight, arbitration then looms quite often as the only alternative to the court process, its main advantages being speed and complete privacy in the conduct of proceedings.
For both practitioners and clients pursuing family disputes, this authoritative text is definitely what is needed. The fact that it is now in its third edition from publishers Bloomsbury Professional, attests to its value, its reliability, practicality, and usefulness.
Usefulness is what this book amply provides, especially as, to a large extent, it may well serve to reassure certain skeptical members of the legal profession that arbitration in family law is now increasingly perceived as an authoritative and reliable process in family law disputes, due largely to the continuing and persistent work of the IFLA -- Institute of Family Law Arbitrators. As noted in the preface to this book, the IFLA’s inception some ten years ago has been referred to as, to some extent, ‘a leap of faith’, as ‘the jurisprudential basis and procedural context were the subject of some debate.’
As you would expect, the book enumerates a number of significant and key decisions by the courts -- including, for example, the decision in Haley v Haley in 2010. Certainly, the dark and sinister advent of Covid has predictably increased the level of credibility assigned to family law arbitration in an increasing number of cases.
The book consists of two parts, with Part I dealing with family law arbitration in practice and Part II (the largest segment of the book) consisting of useful appendices. These include forms, precedents, and case studies, as well as actual cases and learned articles. (For example, check out the article on “Arbitration -- a Fairer Process” by Alexis Campbell QC and Suzanne Kingston.)
All this, together with a detailed table of contents and index, as well as extensive tables of cases, make this handy paperback volume reassuringly reliable and highly recommended as a work of reference in matters of family law arbitration, especially as it is a main resource for the IAFL, the International Academy of Family Lawyers.
The date of publication of this paperback edition is cited as 31st May 2022.
BOOK REVIEW
FAMILY LAW ARBITRATION
Practice & Precedents
3rd edition
By Dennis Sheridan and Suzanne Kingston
ISBN 978 1 52652 207 8
Bloomsbury Professional/Family Law
bloomsburyprofessionallaw.com/online
FAMILY LAW ARBITRATION: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW REGARDING PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE --WITH A FOREWORD BY DAVID NEUBERGER
An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
Money -- and children – these, as mentioned in the foreword to this useful work of reference, are ‘the main types of private family law disputes.’
The difficulties for practitioners involved in such disputes are
compounded by the ever-present legacy of what you might call ‘the post-covid era’ with the resulting pressure on the courts, not to mention the scarcity of judges. There is much to be said therefore, for family law arbitration. ‘When the family courts are under pressure,’ says Lord Neuberger, ‘arbitration offers a very attractive alternative.’
In acrimonious disputes in which there seems to be no end in sight, arbitration then looms quite often as the only alternative to the court process, its main advantages being speed and complete privacy in the conduct of proceedings.
For both practitioners and clients pursuing family disputes, this authoritative text is definitely what is needed. The fact that it is now in its third edition from publishers Bloomsbury Professional, attests to its value, its reliability, practicality, and usefulness.
Usefulness is what this book amply provides, especially as, to a large extent, it may well serve to reassure certain skeptical members of the legal profession that arbitration in family law is now increasingly perceived as an authoritative and reliable process in family law disputes, due largely to the continuing and persistent work of the IFLA -- Institute of Family Law Arbitrators. As noted in the preface to this book, the IFLA’s inception some ten years ago has been referred to as, to some extent, ‘a leap of faith’, as ‘the jurisprudential basis and procedural context were the subject of some debate.’
As you would expect, the book enumerates a number of significant and key decisions by the courts -- including, for example, the decision in Haley v Haley in 2010. Certainly, the dark and sinister advent of Covid has predictably increased the level of credibility assigned to family law arbitration in an increasing number of cases.
The book consists of two parts, with Part I dealing with family law arbitration in practice and Part II (the largest segment of the book) consisting of useful appendices. These include forms, precedents, and case studies, as well as actual cases and learned articles. (For example, check out the article on “Arbitration -- a Fairer Process” by Alexis Campbell QC and Suzanne Kingston.)
All this, together with a detailed table of contents and index, as well as extensive tables of cases, make this handy paperback volume reassuringly reliable and highly recommended as a work of reference in matters of family law arbitration, especially as it is a main resource for the IAFL, the International Academy of Family Lawyers.
The date of publication of this paperback edition is cited as 31st May 2022.
