In a nutshell

Family law barristers deal with an array of cases arising from marital, civil union or cohabitation breakdown and related issues concerning children. Simple cases are heard in the county courts, while complex or high-value cases are listed in the Family Division of the High Court. Emphasising the importance of this area, UK government stats reveal that around half of divorcing couples have at least one child aged under 16, and together divorces affect nearly 150,000 children a year. Consequently, a huge amount of court time is allotted to divorce, separation, adoption, child residence and contact orders, financial provision and domestic violence.

The realities of the job

• Financial cases and public and private law children’s work each offer their own unique challenges.
• Emotional resilience is required, as is a capacity for empathy, as the work involves asking clients for intimate details of their private life, and breaking devastating news to the emotionally fragile. Private law children’s cases can sometimes involve serious allegations between parents and require the input of child psychologists. The public law counterpart (care proceedings between local authorities and parents) invariably includes detailed and potentially distressing medical evidence.
• For many clients, involvement with the courts is out of the ordinary and they will rely heavily on their counsel to guide them through the process. The law can never fix emotional problems relating to marital breakdown or child issues, but it can pacify a situation.
• The job calls for communication, tact and maturity. Cases have a significant impact on the lives they involve, so finding the most appropriate course of action for each client is important. The best advocates are those who can differentiate between a case and client requiring a bullish approach and those crying out for settlement and concessions to be made.
• Where possible, mediation is used to resolve disputes in a more efficient and less unsettling fashion.
• Teamwork is crucial. As the barrister is the link between the client, the judge, solicitors and social workers, it is important to win the trust and confidence of all parties.
• The legislation affecting this area is comprehensive, and there’s a large body of case law. Keeping abreast of developments is necessary because the job is more about negotiating general principles than adhering strictly to precedents.
• Finance-oriented barristers need an understanding of pensions and shares and a good grounding in the basics of trusts and property.
• The early years of practice involve a lot of private law children work (disputes between parents), small financial cases and injunctions in situations of domestic violence.

Current issues

• A few years ago barristers believed that mediation and an increase in solicitor advocates would mean a downturn in work for juniors. Yet, with the exception of child cases, in which solicitors have always been encouraged to do their own advocacy, the volume of instructions appears to have continued largely unabated. This is despite the fact that 2009 saw divorce rates fall to the lowest levels since 1974.
• Big divorces are big news. The wealth and assets involved in cases such as that of Boris Berezovsky and his wife Galina far outstrip the reasonable needs of the parties, but precedents for huge payouts have been established and such cases draw significant attention, accompanied by strategic use of the media.
• Cases involving the division of assets/child law issues following the breakdown of a civil partnership are beginning to appear.
• Prenuptial agreements have been big news recently, following the landmark Radmacher v Granatino case which saw the Supreme Court rule for the first time that they should have 'decisive weight' in settlements.
• Legal aid cuts are hitting the Family Bar hard.

Some tips

• The Family Bar is quite small and competition for pupillage is intense. Think about how you can evidence your interest in family law. See our Pro Bono and Volunteering section.
• Younger pupils might find it daunting to advise on mortgages, marriages and children when they’ve never experienced any of these things personally. Arguably those embarking on a second career, or who have delayed a year or two and acquired other life experiences, may have an advantage.
• Check the work orientation of a set before applying for pupillage, particularly if you don’t want to narrow your options too early. For example, some sets specialise only in the financial aspects of divorce.