Law firm Sintons has become a regional leader in the use of remote arbitration, which has allowed clients to achieve much needed conclusions to their family issues despite the COVID-19 lockdown.
The specialist family team has encouraged parties to agree to arbitration – a form of alternative dispute resolution in finances upon divorce in and cases regarding child arrangements – for some time, as a means of avoiding the traditional costly and lengthy court process.
However, against the current backdrop, in which social distancing continues to be enforced and with the court struggling as a consequence, delays of many months are expected. As a result, Sintons has turned to remote arbitration to support clients in progressing their matters as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Through its use of remote arbitration, Sintons recently secured a binding and final decision for a client within five weeks, compared to the timescale of around 12 weeks just to get to the first hearing (where no decisions can be made) in the traditional court process.
Louise Masters, senior associate in the award-winning family team at Sintons, secured the award in this case, which was one of the first uses of remote arbitration in the North East.
“Whilst Sintons was able to move most employees to remote working essentially overnight, the COVID-19 lockdown has presented many frustrations and anxieties for our clients and their cases, especially where court proceedings were underway. Our absolute commitment to exceeding clients’ expectations meant that we were only too keen to find ways of securing the best route and outcome, while minimising delay where possible. Through the use of remote arbitration, we have been able to do this in a streamline and supported manner,” she said.
“There are various options of alternative dispute resolution and in every matter we are mindful of which method could suit a particular case. Remote arbitration is a new approach and one we at Sintons are very pleased to be leading the way with. The past few weeks have shown this can be done very effectively and efficiently via videoconferencing.
“Courts continue to be under significant pressure with an ever-increasing backlog, which we anticipate may lead to lengthy delays in many cases being heard. The courts themselves are encouraging parties to actively consider the use of alternative means of dispute resolution. Arbitration, and presently remote arbitration, is a very important tool in resolving cases enabling clients to secure a binding decision in a timely manner. Given the recent successes of the process overall, it is something which will be in the forefront of our minds moving forward.”
