Family business | Getting their day in court

Our cost-conscious government pushes as hard as it can for divorcing couples to settle fast and out of court. Solicitors are expected to tamely follow suit. True, we do want our clients to move on with their lives. Yet which of us can ignore that in the early days of relationship break down, most couples know little of their overall financial picture and are overwhelmingly too raw with emotion to consider a precious, lifetime settlement?

Some clients don't want to settle, come what may. Agreeing that one party can have more than they (as opposed to a judge) feels is justified, is a step too far. Others do want to settle but also want to make sure that every last penny is accounted for. Sometimes, impossibly, they want both at once.

Some clients put their head '¨in the sand and let the case '¨plod on unable to consider material needs when every day is filled with emotional pain. There's the one key obstacle to settling: the acute emotional fallout, which accompanies so many family cases.

Conversely there are clients who are so emotionally desperate to settle, they ignore all the warning signs. "My company is worth nothing," wrote the multi-millionaire company director in his disclosure. "I don't care," said '¨the client, "let him have it all." '¨So do you let her make the mistake of her life in her quest to settle fast or try and stop her? Not least because in a year or two she will most likely change her mind, and unable to alter '¨the agreement, sue her '¨hapless solicitors?

Consider the new client seeking a review of her settlement reached through top London lawyers with full disclosure who wrote "I accepted his offer but I feel I could have done better in court. I bitterly regret settling and not having my day in court." I thought the deal was fair, but she had wanted her voice to be heard and will always regret that it was not.

Settlement means a chance to sleep more easily and put the past firmly where it belongs. The client avoided a court battle which could have caused many more problems than it solved. Settlement can also save a lot of money and significantly cut the overall legal costs of a case.

Assuming the other side has a similar understanding of the situation, a deal, which both parties can live with, should be possible. It may not be the ideal conclusion but it will provide closure and perhaps make it easier for the parties to maintain a civilised relationship.

Most of our clients do ultimately settle and avoid a nerve-wracking final hearing. That said, not all parties are honest and forthcoming, fair and reasonable. They are offered a stark choice. Accept much less or see you in court. So to court they must go.

I'm often envious of '¨surgeons; they sedate all their patients and get on with the gory operation. Their patients wake up without knowledge of the difficult work that has just taken place. Solicitors have to '¨do the same to people's marriages, but our clients remain wide awake. SJ

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