Why We Exist

We seek to offer a more cost effective and innovative approach to family or separation matters. We believe that it is possible to reduce conflict, and therefore costs, in the majority of separations and divorce. We also feel passionately that by reducing conflict between parents, we permanently improve the emotional and psychological trajectory of the children of those families.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) tells us that 2 out of 3 people with a legal problem do not seek the support of a solicitor. The SRA would like to see a more innovative legal market which better serves the needs of clients. Cambridge Family Matters aims to be part of that innovation.

The Effects of the Removal of Legal Aid

Increasingly, legal advice and representation is becoming the privilege of the rich with universal access to justice no longer a cornerstone of our legal system. Since 1 April 2013, when the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 took many private law children and family cases out of scope for legal aid, the situation only worsened. Since then, 80% of all new family court cases had at least one party who did not have legal representation – a Litigant in Person or LiP (Source: House of Commons Briefing Papers). The family court continues to see LiPs in at least 50% of new cases. Since the pandemic, courts are struggling with even greater caseloads and backlogs which causes unacceptable delays to family law cases as well as inconsistency, as judges can no longer guarantee to see the same case through to final hearing. The President of the Family Division, the most senior judge in the country, is calling for all family law professionals to direct clients to ‘alternative dispute resolution’ such as mediation, wherever appropriate.

The Removal of Early Legal Advice

Early advice has also been taken out of the scope of public funding. This has meant that many people, whose concerns could have benefited from early advice, have seen their dispute go unresolved, escalate or end up in the already overloaded court system. Our First Meeting service, offers this early intervention of information, at an affordable cost.

New Innovations in Family Law

The legal world is changing. In recognition of the overwhelming need to offer access to justice for all and to close the current overwhelming affordability gap, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is seeking to encourage innovation by introducing new approaches to the ways in which legal services can be delivered. Law firms no longer need to be owned by lawyers, lawyers can work with both clients simultaneously, clients can instruct barristers themselves, lawyers and barristers can offer arbitration and early neutral evaluation and legal training has been shaken up.

Cambridge Family Matters is working within this new framework, keeping overheads as low as practicable whilst also looking for the least emotionally and least financially costly options towards an agreement.