I’m worried about my reputation. What can I do to protect it?

Court can be stressful enough without having to worry about the added issue of having the press there, watching your every move and reporting on the judge’s decisions to the general public.

It is true that the press can be in attendance at most court cases.

However, they will usually not bother attending court unless either you or your partner are celebrities or well known public figures. The press may also be interested in attending if your case is particularly interesting in the field of family law.

There is a way around this. Just like you might choose private healthcare over the public healthcare system you can also choose to have the financial claims of your divorce or civil partnership dissolution heard in the private sector. This is known as arbitration.

Arbitration lets you and the other party choose your own arbitrator (these are usually retired judges), your own timetable and even your own location, making the proceedings much more civilised than when using the public court system. This also means that you are usually able to complete the process much quicker than if you used the public court system and, unlike public courts, arbitration can completely exclude the public and the media if you want to keep your case totally private. Any documents given to the arbitration proceedings will also be kept completely private and you would need the court’s permission to release them.

We are experienced in advising clients on how to deal with the press, should the need arise.