Meet Anne Dick, of Family Law Matters, Glasgow

Meet Anne Dick, of Family Law Matters, Glasgow. Although she would never accept it, Anne is a true pioneer of mediation in Scotland. Some decades ago she helped introduce it to our country, whose preferred system of determining family law disputes until then had been solely adversarial. Anne became the founding convener of CALM Scotland and the very first lawyer accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a family mediator. In this interview, Anne talks about the development of mediation in Scotland, how it helped shift the focus of family law onto children, reflecting a new understanding of a more equal status for parents and a responsibility to get it right for the children. She makes it clear that although it has been a real challenge to get the message out about mediation, to overcome the public perception of family lawyer mediators in the midst of huge financial settlements still grabbing the headlines, and she tells us in fact, that very few separation and divorce cases actually need to be decided in court these days, and that the legal system we now have runs quite complimentary to the self-determining approach mediation can bring to the table. Thankfully Anne sees this development progressing, and looking into her crystal ball she leaves us with her vision on how mediation will look in the future in Scotland. We hope you agree that this is a fascinating interview, and remember to subscribe for more of the same.