Some solicitors undertake family cases themselves, whereas in other cases you might be represented by a barrister. Although in recent years the two professions have merged to some extent, and very recent changes have now given barristers the right to conduct a lot more by way of legal services than ever before, there are slightly different ethical considerations to be borne in mind between the two types of lawyers.
If you're preparing to instruct a barrister for your family case, you may first need to identify the correct paperwork using our free Court Form Finder.
Differences Between Barrister and Solicitor
A solicitor’s duty is entirely to his or her client. That means that they are under a duty to act in your best interests at all times and cannot do anything likely to damage your interests. Barristers’ ethical duties are slightly different. Barristers have an equal duty to their clients and also to the court. What this means is that a barrister may not be able to act for you if you tell them, for example, that you want them to lie in court on your behalf. If this were to happen, in most instances your barrister would be ‘professionally embarrassed’ and would not be able to represent you.
A Barrister’s Expertise
Barristers are specialist court advocates who are specifically trained in relation to litigation and court scenarios. They have more formal advocacy training than solicitors and have higher ‘rights of audience’ than solicitors. This means that they are entitled to argue a case in any court in the land, including the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Unless a solicitor has obtained ‘higher rights’, he or she cannot appear in these courts (in which case their title would be ‘Solicitor Advocate.’) Barristers tend to specialise in a specific area of law, which means that a family law barrister is likely to have undertaken many cases in the Family Court before and will have expert knowledge on the particular case law that pertains to your case.
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While you may shop around for the right solicitor to represent you in your family law case, a barrister has no such choice in his or her clients. Barristers are governed by what is called the ‘cab rank rule’, in that as long as they are sufficiently experienced to do the case and are not already busy, they have to take the case. The exception to this is when a barrister is ‘professionally embarrassed’, such as in the above example, or in some instances if they are asked to represent someone for whom they have previously acted against.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
What Your Barrister Wears in the Family Court
In the family court, barristers rarely wear a wig and gown. Most of the time your barrister will dress in the same way as a solicitor – in a dark suit and shirt. The exception to this in the family court is if someone has breached an injunction and the court has indicated that they may send them to prison, in which case wigs and gowns are required.
What to Do if You’re Unhappy With Your Barrister?
If you don’t like your barrister, or aren’t confident in the way they are representing you, it is possible to sack them. Through a final hearing may be a questionable time to do it, but if you are genuinely unhappy you should speak to your solicitor about getting a different barrister to represent you. If you are only unhappy with the way your case was dealt with afterwards, you can make a complaint to the Bar Standards Board (for barristers) or to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (for solicitors). That said, the vast majority of barristers are excellent advocates and work very hard on behalf of their clients, whether you are legally aided or privately paying. Remember, people tend to become barristers because they love to win!
my question is whether you have any experience of a child being alienated by a parent whilst the other children are still seen? can a court insist they remain together ? is is possible to have a court insist the alienated parent have family counselling to reinstate a relationship with the estranged child (reconnecting therapy)? long term whilst the child is welcome to stay at his dads longer term separating siblings only due to the fact a parent doesn't like a child or finds them more challenging to parent surely can't be allowed? Any advice welcome. He is seeking representation with a Barrister at court.
Desperately looking for Rottweiler Solicitor in Central London, to support a single dad, who's going through such lays from ex-partner, manipulating Social Services and other professionals too.
Farm name and number would be appreciated very much.
Thank you
I was wondering what are the chances of getting full custody of my son over his mother.
I have been in court since 2014 Had weekend handover mother unilateral stoped contact in 2015 , I took her back to court she failed to attend for handover at the contact centre took her back to court and then again. She failed to attend again. And then didn’t show up to court again twice after penal notice was attached she showed and the I saw kids 3 times then she stopped contact again . 2 years had already passed now we were in 2017.
She failed to attend again then finally saw my kids in 2018 then the kids had been brainwashed as I only saw them
4 times since 2015 .
Judge didn’t enforce any orders or carry out the penal notices even though they had been attached to the court orders which were broken and most she didn’t show up even .
I’m disgusted at this system.
As a father I feel descriminated against.
Also the Caffcass guardian has been very obstructive as well as she suggested no contact - because children needed a cooling period.
I had to represent myself during the court action to dissolve the care order as could not get legal aid or obtain a pro-bono barrister. Hence anything I brought up in court was totally ignored by the judge.
My solicitor wishes to come to court with my barrister. Clearly that is double fees. Is it really necessary to have both of them there?
C
My ex partner passed away recently and my 2 children have been placed with my ex wife's neice and her partner. I'm currently going through a court case to resolve this issue and rightfully get my children back to live with me.
I really dont understand why in have to fight for this right in court when my ex and her family have planned this out without my knowledge for the past 12 months?
I'm their father and I could end up having to pay child maintenance to a man I've never met and also I will have to ask him when I can see my children and for how long??
Really?? Why on earth would a court issue parental responsibility to anyone other than their father? I've not been in trouble I'm financially secure with a house to accomadate them?
I'm totally confused on how this could possibly happen.
Anybody else experienced this scenario and wahtbwas the outcome?
Thank you from a heartbroken loving dad.
Just hoping for a bit of advice.
I am in court with my ex this month over a few issues.
Whilst she confirmed in her C100 application form she is happy with current arrangements (i was in process of applying for more time), her comments to cafcass and now in her statement to the court is that she is now longer happy and wishes the child to be returned to her the evening before - i have an older daughter from previous marrriage and both girls (2 and 9) get on like a house on fire. The current arrangement has been in place since i had to move in October 2015.
She also wants to add her surname to make double barrelled but this was never an issue before but when she left me 6 months after the birth we registered together, its now a big issue. Her name would go from 26 to 32 characters.
She also now wants our daughter to be christened as a catholic, not CofE. She is a non-practicing catholic and i am CofE. The compromise i am putting forward is that given the dissagreement, i believe our daughter should just decide a path a wishes to take when she is older.
A blatant lie she has put in her statement is that i forced her out of the family home and she had to to go back from the corner to her parents.
The truth is that we rented a property from her father, i had an agreement to pay rent. She left saying she needed a months break, never came back. She is clearly trying to paint a bad picture of me but this is a blatant lie and surely this needs to be addressed with the solicitors on the day - its made me so angry and upset that she feels she needs to lie like this (history of lying) in a court to hope the judge favours her.
Would appreciate any advice on these issues.
Thank you
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