1st April 2013 meant big changes in funding…. One month on and the Ministry of Justice have announced further plans for change.

In a recent judgment Mr Justice Baker emphasised the importance of the role played by lawyers in family Court proceedings. Baker J said that all judges are "very concerned at the prospect of an increase in self-represented litigants and the consequences for the family justice system. Not enough recognition is given to the contribution to the family justice system made by family lawyers". (Devon County Council v EB & Ors (Minors) [2013] EWHC 968 (Fam)).

The office will be open as usualuntil 5pm On Friday 3rd May

There was an interesting article in the Guardian on 1.4.13, the day that significant changes to Legal Aid came into force. According to a recent survey carried out by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice at the University of Warwick, cutting £350m from legal aid budget will leave vulnerable people struggling to find help, and will in effect create ‘advice deserts’ in parts of the country.

Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, yet the problem is often ignored, excused, or denied. This is particularly true when the abuse is psychological, rather than physical.

Following the news of Mr Justice Ryder's judgment in favour of the LSC in the case of JC v the LSC, ruling that the LSC had not acting unlawfully when it refused to allow the full costs of the expert assessment to fall onto the child's certificate.

Lets get the bad news out of the way first and extract from it what good news that we can. Yes: You probably know by now that Legal Aid has been withdrawn in many cases of divorce and private law actions relating to children. The good news is that this does not apply across the board. There are exceptions and it is always worth contacting us to explore them.

The office will be open as usual until 7pm Thursday and will then re-open at 9am on Tuesday 2nd April.

In a recent case the Court jailed a Property Tycoon estimated to be worth £400 million for what was considered to be a 'flagrant' contempt of court in long-running financial remedy proceedings.

I graduated in June 2010 and initially my plan was to work for a law firm for a year and to go on to study the Legal Practice Course (LPC) full time

Lord Neuberger's comments echoed what the majority of the family legal profession have been thinking since the announcement of the abolition of public funding in the majority of cases, which comes in to force on the 1st April.

You may have noticed it has been in the news recently about the fact that the highest number of complaints to the SRA appear to be in relation to divorce cases, in particular in relation to costs.

Action for Children has called for public advice to assist in the reporting of child neglect. According to a report published by Action for Children nine out of ten, police officers, social workers and teachers regularly come into contact with children they suspect are suffering from neglect, yet as many as 40% feel unable to intervene

On 1st April 2013, the Legal Services Commission ceases to exist. In its place is the Legal Aid Agency. This is not the end of Public Funding

Have a romantic Valentines Day, but if you are thinking of "tying the knot" you should consider a prenuptial agreement.

Brothers and Sisters are known to the family courts as siblings. The law recognises that they have very important relationships and when you think about it for many of us our relationships with our brothers and sisters are probably some of the most long lasting relationships that we will have.

Now that the Christmas and New Year festivities are behind us we are faced with the stark realities of 2013; economic hardship, wars and disasters and terrible weather. Here at The Berkson Globe Partnership we are bracing ourselves for more immediate difficulties.

I have been working as a legal clerk at Berkson Globe since October 2012 and time has flown! I am enjoying my time here and feel that I have settled well into the new environment. This time last year I was living and working in Madrid, trying to control a class of boisterous Spanish children so my experience so far has certainly been an adjustment!

Munby P's first published case as President of the Family division Re TG (a child) EWCA Civ 5 provides interesting reading to all family lawyers who deal with care proceedings. In it he rightly questions the need for separate representation of parties who share the same position

We are very excited to announce that from Thursday 24th January we will be open each and every Thursday from 9am until 8pm.From Saturday the 26th January we will be open each and every Saturday between the hours on 10am - 2pm.

As the deadline for major changes in eligibility for legal aid approaches at Berkson Globe we remain committed to doing all we can to continue to represent clients who need access to expert family advice.

The year ahead brings many challenges to family law - as well as big changes to publicly funded work with many areas of family law no longer being covered by legal aid there are also big changes in the way care cases are run with plans to finalise matters within 26 weeks.

All to often in the press there is mention of fat cat lawyers trampling over everyone only caring about earning a fast buck. Family law has never been about making money , most cases are publicly funded , family law is about giving people who are often at a very vulnerable stage in their lives support, and access to the right advice.

The Supreme Court decision this week in the case of Kernott and Jones is interesting because in making judgment both Lord Collins and Lord Wilson were critical of the continuing failure of parliament to legislate on cohabitation.

Berkson Globe had 2 teams entered in the RunLiverpool 5k Team Challenge Event, which took place on Sunday 4th September 2011...

“Our wedding day should be one of the happiest of our life”

Little wonder then that the furthest thought from any couple’s minds is the possibility that love doesn’t last forever...

As the country stumbles along with the prospect of a “Double Dip” Recession in the offing, “middle income” families are finding that clean breaks on divorces are ever more unachievable...

Figures from HM Courts and Tribunals Service show that the number of care and supervision cases before the family courts has increased from around 12,000 at the start of 2009 to more than 20,000 in March 2011...

Two lawyers at Berkson Globe have recently been appointed to Law Society Panels.

Haley Farrell has been appointed to the Law Society’s Children’s Panel which allows her to directly represent children involved in child-care proceedings and family disputes...

The Office for National Statistics has revealed that Same-sex couples formed 6,385 civil partnerships (3,119 male and 3,266 female) in the UK in 2010, an increase of 1.7 per cent compared with 2009...