Read our latest coverage and comment
Family Lawyers join forces to support neurodivergent community
Family lawyers from different firms and chambers have joined forces to set up a specialist group dedicated to ensuring the neurodivergent community has equal access to justice. FLANC (Family Law Advice for the Neurodivergent Community) has been spearheaded by Duncan...
Beck Fitzgerald team news
We are delighted to announce that we have invited Molly Ashcroft and Rebecca Pantelli to become Directors of Beck Fitzgerald with immediate effect. Both Molly and Rebecca have made an enormous contribution to the smooth running of our growing team and will continue to...
Reluctance, resistance, and refusal – let’s lose the pseudo-science.
Taking a constructive and collaborative approach to problem solving in an area which is complex is always a challenge. The polarising debates surrounding the complex area of alienating behaviours are particularly difficult to navigate because they have become...
Current legal aid regime puts victims at risk
Punched in the face. Strangled. Stalked. Expected to always cook homemade meals. Kicked in front of the children. Over the threshold to qualify for legal aid to protect herself. Had to make an ex parte order on her own (her furious husband turned up at her house the...
Jenny Beck new Chair of Nuffield Family Justice Observatory board
Nuffield Foundation has appointed Jenny Beck as Chair of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory’s board. Jenny Beck is a family lawyer, founding partner and Director of Beck Fitzgerald, committed to accessible and fair justice and the rights of the individual. Jenny...
Domestic abuse awareness…much to be done
Two days ago, we saw the announcement that, under Jade’s law, parental responsibility will now be automatically suspended for parents who have been sentenced for killing someone they shared parental responsibility with. We welcome this announcement and what it...
Transgender and the Family Courts
More than 250,000 people in England and Wales identify as transgender, according to the Census 2021 data which gave us the first true picture of gender identity in Britain. Awareness of transgender issues in the Family Court is gradually increasing however the law of...
Mediation – how can it help you?
We are using this opportunity to shine a light on mediation and how it can help resolve financial disputes or arrangements for children in a cooperative and non-adversarial manner. What is Mediation? Family mediation is a voluntary process in which a professionally...
LASPOA – 10 years on
Ten years have passed since the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPOA) devastated access to justice. A staggering 80% of family law cases were removed from scope leaving tens of thousands of families unsure and insecure about their legal rights...
The Times best law firms
The Times Best Law Firms Beck Fitzgerald are delighted to have been named in The Times ‘Best Law Firms 2023’ publication for family law. This is a brilliant achievement for the firm and acknowledges the hard work and dedication of the team. We would like to thank...
Until we have a level playing field justice will remain a challenge
‘Until we have a level playing field justice in the family courts will remain a challenge. The system needs proper funding and we need fast action to implement ctitical changes highlighted in the Harm Panels review. This really cannot wait’ Victims of domestic abuse...
Beck Fitzgerald appoints two new Directors and five Associates
We are delighted to announce that we have invited Amy Woolfenden and Sarah Stace to become Directors of Beck Fitzgerald with immediate effect. Sarah will continue to lead and mentor in private client, finance and unmarried family cases and Amy will continue to head up...
The Problem with the nuts and bolts…
How process and procedure mitigate against fairness in cases involving coercive and controlling behaviour in the family courts. I want to take a few moments to give you my thoughts about how process and procedure (often way before cases arrive in court) inadvertently...
The Domestic Abuse Act
The Domestic Abuse Bill received royal ascent on the 29th April 2021 and will be implemented later this year. The Act brings in important changes, many of which have been received positively by the sector and will lead to important developments enabling practitioners...
Society needs zero tolerance for abuse of women and girls
Society needs zero tolerance for abuse of women and girls both on the streets and at home. Without hardwiring a change of attitude into education and putting proper resource into effective policies for change there will be no real change. Jenny discusses...
Beck Fitzgerald in the Court of Appeal
Beck Fitzgerald are proud to be representing two of the Appellants in the seminal case before the Court of Appeal, where the court are considering important issues concerning the treatment of domestic abuse in private law proceedings involving children...
Jenny Beck to become Honorary Queens Counsel (QC)
We are proud to announce that Jenny is to become an Honorary Queens Counsel (QC Honoris Causa) commencing March 2021. She has been awarded this honour to reflect her enormous contribution to the fight for access to justice over the past two decades. Her...
Two major breakthroughs for access to justice
Clients from Beck Fitzgerald have put themselves forward to help us challenge two particularly unfair rules in the application of the legal aid ‘means test’. Trapped capital The brilliant Public Law Project took this matter to judicial review regarding the...