Beverley lawyer qualifies as one of UK’s first family arbitrators

May 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Beverley based lawyer, Mark Carlton, has become one of the UK’s first legal experts to qualify as a family law arbitrator under the newly launched family law arbitration scheme.

Mark is the senior partner at Cooper Wilkin Chapman and undertook rigorous training and the assessment before becoming a qualified family law arbitrator and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.  Presently, there are only 36 qualified family law arbitrators in the UK and Mark is East Yorkshire’s first trained arbitrator in family law.  

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution, where disputes are resolved away from the court room.  It has a long association with settling disputes in certain areas such as commercial and construction contracts and employers and employees through arbitration services provided by unions.

The family law arbitration scheme enables family disputes to be resolved by arbitration, offering a radical alternative to the traditional court system of dispute resolution.  The scheme covers financial and property disputes – including divorce settlements, child maintenance claims, property ownership disputes and inheritance disputes.

Under the scheme, arbitrators help to resolve a range of financial family law issues by providing legally binding outcomes, or ‘awards’, which offer an alternative to the court system.

Commenting on the launch of the family law arbitration scheme, Mark Carlton said: “For couples who are separating, arbitration can take away the stress of lengthy court battles and be a much more cost effective solution.  It is a relatively swift, fair and flexible procedure, with each couple agreeing to appoint their own arbitrator to help guide them through the process.

“One of the main advantages with using arbitration is that it can relieve some of the pressures on the current court system.  Judges don’t always have the time to prepare for hearings in advance, and due to the number of hearings taking place couples may come to court not knowing whether their case will start on time, or be heard at all.

“However, when an arbitrator is appointed he, or she, will have had the time to prepare thoroughly and be able to deal promptly with any issues that may arise from the process and arrive at a swift and legally binding decision.”

Chief executive of Cooper Wilkin Chapman, Julia Whittaker, said: “Mark’s qualification and achievement on becoming a trained family law arbitrator is a great addition to the firm’s family law services.  Family disputes, such as divorce, can be a stressful time and particularly distressing for the parties involved.  However, with the new arbitration scheme we can help lessen some of this strain, ensuring a swift, fair and cost effective resolution.”

To find out more about family law arbitration visit: http://www.ifla.org.uk and http://www.wilkinchapman.co.uk

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For further information, please contact:  Susan McKeon at Wilkin Chapman LLP on 01472 262626 or email smckeon@wilkinchapman.co.uk

Notes to editor:

1.   Mark Carlton
Mark is senior partner of Cooper Wilkin Chapman and has over 25 years’ experience of working in family law.  He qualified as a solicitor in 1985 and specialises in divorce, (high net worth) financial cases, including pensions, businesses and farming cases.  He is also a qualified mediator, specialising in children proceedings.

Mark is a member of the Law Society’s Family Accreditation scheme (Advanced), and is a qualified Collaborative lawyer.


2.   Institute of Family Law Arbitrators (IFLA)
IFLA is a not for profit organisation, created by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), the Family Law Bar Association, and the family lawyers’ group Resolution, in association with the Centre for Child and Family Law Reform.  www.ifla.org.uk

3.   The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
CIArb is the world’s leading professional membership body for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. A not-for-profit organisation, CIArb promotes the use of alternative dispute resolution internationally through a membership of 12,000 professionally qualified members in more than 110 countries. In addition to providing education and training for arbitrators, mediators and adjudicators, CIArb acts as an international resource centre for practitioners, policy makers, academics and those in business concerned with the cost-effective and early settlement of disputes.
www.ciarb.org