A joint family dispute resolution session may involve one or two practitioners, the parties and perhaps, if everyone agrees, their solicitors. A support person for a party can also attend if the other party agrees.

 

Joint sessions normally take up to four hours (though they can be much longer if they parties make agreement for this), or for more joint sessions to occur to complete the process over multiple issues.

 

At the start of a joint session, each party is asked to describe the issues that they seek to discuss and the outcomes they would like from the process. An agenda is then formed with all of the issues. Addressing one issue at a time, each party is given an opportunity to speak without interruption. The practitioner often summarises and restates the party’s position in neutral terms before allowing the other party to respond.

 

The practitioner helps the parties identify and investigate possible solutions for each issue. Areas of agreement may be reached and will be recorded. At the end of the session, parties are usually given an opportunity to take away or later receive a written record of these points of agreement.

 

Issues dealt with in family dispute resolution are usually those with practical, parenting, legal or financial implications, although techniques for more effective communication - particularly between separated parents - often feature in discussion. Parties can express their feelings in a controlled manner, but therapy is not the aim of family law family dispute resolution.