Hall Brown Family Law has announced that its ability to help clients settle disputes has been bolstered by the qualification of another of its partners as a specialist arbitrator.
Izzy Walsh, who is also joint head of the firm’s operations in the capital, has been accredited by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Ciarb) on behalf of the Institute of Family Law Arbitrators (IFLA).
It means that she is now able to resolve disagreements involving finances and property without the costly complications and delays often associated with court proceedings.
Izzy joins Sheffield-based partner Martin Loxley as one of Hall Brown’s in-house arbitrators.
The certification is another indication of the strength of the firm’s non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) practice and comes just days after the publication of figures showing that the number of family law arbitrations has doubled in the last two years.
Izzy said: “Becoming an arbitrator is very much part of our effort to be as forward-thinking as possible.
“We aim to provide clients with the best service available to help them resolve even very complex, high-value disputes without needing to go to court.
“Along with the rise in mediations which our NCDR team has seen, there have been many more arbitrations in recent years.
“There are a number of factors which have influenced this change, one of which is the difficulty that the Court system currently has in providing an efficient service for resolving disputes.
“That situation has been made even more acute by a reduction late last year in the number of court days allocated to financial cases.
“The increase in the use of NCDR processes such as mediation and arbitration is also due, in part, to a change in the rules, meaning that people now have to genuinely explore alternative forms of dispute resolution or otherwise risk court sanction and further delay.
“These reasons coincide with a more widespread realisation of the benefits of retaining an element of control in the settlement process and, in particular, in one which is convenient, confidential and very likely far quicker than court proceedings.”
Her comments are borne out by the release of two separate sets of data.
The first, by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), showed that divorces concluded last autumn had taken 67 weeks on average from application to a final order being obtained – up five weeks on the same period in 2024.
Statistics newly issued by the IFLA have highlighted how the number of family law arbitrations increased from 79 in 2023 to 158 last year.
That rise followed an amendment to the Family Procedure Rules – which govern how family law cases are handled – that came into force in April 2024.
It required individuals wishing to bring cases to court to demonstrate that they had engaged in NCDR to try and reach a solution.
Anyone failing to do so faces the potential of a costs order being made against them as well as having proceedings delayed in order to reach a non-court resolution.
That rule change came just months after Hall Brown appointed Sarah Manning to lead its new nationwide NCDR unit.
Izzy’s accreditation is the latest evidence of Hall Brown’s continued progress.
Last month, the firm opened a new office in Liverpool – its sixth in total, adding to premises in Manchester, London, Sheffield, Leeds and Birmingham – as a result of further strong demand for its services.
Hall Brown now employs 84 staff nationwide, 62 of whom are fee earners.
In reporting further strong rise in turnover last autumn, it explained that the firm’s culture – along with an ability to recruit established talent and develop junior lawyers – had been instrumental in its success.
