New meditation company helps resolve family disputes

28th Jul 2006

A new mediation company to help family members in dispute resolve their problems has been set up at the offices of leading regional law firm Blackett Hart & Pratt.

The service, called Bridges Mediation, is a separate, non-legal limited company but comes under the umbrella of BHP following its recent merger with Newcastle law firm Harvey & Marron.

It is staffed by experienced, accredited family mediators, Margot Moffitt and Jonathan Leyland who are also family lawyers. Ann Ownes is to join the expanding team..

As mediators Margot and Jonathan do not give legal advice when mediating between couples, and do not refer their own family law clients to the service.

Much of Bridges? work is hoped to come from private clients across the region who are looking for an alternative way to resolve their issues outside of Court. Additional work is expected to come from clients of other family law firms in Tyneside and surrounding areas.

Margot, a partner of Blackett Hart & Pratt, says while mediation is common in other parts of the country it is still catching on in the North.

She says: ?It is very much an alternative to court and it?s considerably less expensive. You can still go to court and have a judge tell you what to do, or you can work out what is best for your family yourselves by having someone manage the communication process for you.

?We enable couples to make their own decisions without telling them what to do. We believe non-directive mediation is very valuable as couples can go on to make their own decisions about family issues once they have left our mediation process?.

Anyone who wants to take a family dispute to court and hopes to qualify for Legal Aid must be assessed first for their suitability for mediation, for which public funding can also be available.

Issues covered in mediation sessions can include contact with children, child support, and financial settlements including property and mortgages, pensions and shares of businesses. Up to five 90-minute sessions are typical, held on neutral ground at Bridges, in Eldon Chambers, on Newcastle Quayside.

Author: Bryan Hoare