In a recent interview, the sports broadcaster and former England striker Gary Lineker called for a ‘mathematical equation’ to help couples divorce quickly so they could avoid what he called the ‘manipulative’ behaviour of lawyers. He accused solicitors of finding ways to make couples spend more money, fuelling acrimony between the parties.
Anthony Beeston, director of Beeston Shenton Solicitors and family law specialist comments that family lawyers will inherently seek to find ways to assist their clients in resolving disputes amicably and cost effectively. Most family law specialists are members of Resolution; an organisation which promotes a non-confrontational approach to resolving family law issues and alternative dispute resolution such as mediation and collaboration.
The reality is that no case is the same and a simple formulaic approach would not work in most situations. Whilst there are good reasons for an overview of current divorce legislation, most notably to remove the requirement to attribute blame to the other party in cases where parties do not wish to wait two years to separate with the other’s consent; resolving financial disputes can be complex and thus requires the human and specialist approach that family lawyers can provide.
Perhaps Mr. Lineker can apply his philosophy to developing an equation to prevent arbitrary refereeing decisions!
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