The ability to adapt to an evolving landscape is what differentiates Mishcon de Reya, according to partner and head of the firm’s family department, Barbara Reeves.
The firm recently won the 2022 eprivateclient Excellence Award for Family Law Firm (Large), which Ms Reeves attributed to its “years of expertise”, which “enabled us to deliver creative solutions across a number of disciplines.”
This differentiated Mishcon de Reya from “simply being a traditional ‘family law’ team.”
Barbara Reeves, Mishcon de Reya
Ms Reeves believed that family lawyers face “seismic changes” in the way cases are being dealt with, and this expertise and experience allows the firm to adapt its practice appropriately.
These changes include the increasing court backlogs coupled with a diminishing appetite by the senior judiciary and government for family disputes to be litigated.
Ms Reeves said this is “a clear sign-post that there should be much greater emphasis on finding other means to assist families in dispute other than within the court system.”
She believed that many firms would continue with the traditional model of family law practice which has an emphasis on litigation.
However, Ms Reeves argued “this emphasis is not one that fits easily with the momentum of much needed reform in the family justice system.”
Further changes faced by family lawyers included growing privacy concerns that particularly concerned the firm’s UHNW clients.
Ms Reeves said the issue of transparency was an issue as some judges were taking the view that cases involving the division of finances on divorce should no longer be granted the privacy or anonymity they once had.
Not only did Mishcon de Reya’s clients value privacy when it came to personal affairs, but owing to the nature of HNWIs often high profile, being out of the public eye was “imperative”.
So how does Mishcon de Reya aim to adapt to these evolving challenges faced by its family lawyers?
“We have reassessed the role of a family lawyer in the 21st century,” said Ms Reeves.
She firstly realised the importance of leveraging its diverse team of family specialists, as well as in-house wider expertise in areas such as immigration, tax, luxury assets, art law, and reputation, to continue providing “creative solutions” for its families.
Additionally, the firm will work with therapists, financial advisers, and clinical specialists, and cyber security experts as its clients’ issues are rarely limited to one discipline, she said.
By taking a flexible approach, Ms Reeves said Mishcon de Reya can protect its clients and their interests, as well as issues that can result in inter-generational and intra-family challenges. This could resolve issues before they become disputes and keep families away from the court.
Additionally, it supports positive parenting to help resolve matters without the need to use the court system.
This counters any issues faced the backlogs facing courts, demonstrating the firm’s willingness to adapt to this challenge.
On top of this, to tackle transparency issues, the firm frequently engages in mediation, early neutral evaluation, and arbitration to continue offering its clients privacy.
“Our skill-set and our approach complements the changes and reform that we are likely to see evolving in the Family legal system,” said Ms Reeves.
However, the firm is also aiming to increase its family law coverage to adapt to the evolving needs of its clients.
“We know their concerns go beyond money and wealth preservation”, she added.
Other concerns included addictive behaviours, education matters, parental alienation, surrogacy and assisted reproduction.
As a result, the firm just celebrated national surrogacy week and will be supporting the Modern Family show in September. Furthermore, the firm will also have an in-house panel event on the roadmap for prospective parents, also in September.
It also launched a Women in Wealth group to further support female holders of private wealth and their advisers.
With these initiatives Mishcon de Reya aims to adapt to the challenges family lawyers face in the wake of an evolving legal landscape.
“Innovation continues to be at the heart of the firm,” Ms Reeves concluded.