Challenges for Family Solicitors moving into 2025:

Family solicitors across the UK, most notably in England & Wales are currently facing several challenges. Namely:

1. Court delays and backlogs due to the increasing high volume of cases and the continued aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in long wait times for court hearings, especially in cases involving children or financial disputes​.
2. Staffing shortages, particularly in legal aid. With increasing numbers of legal aid solicitor leaving the profession and a lack of NQ talent coming through within family law between 2016 and 2024, pressure continues to rise.
3. The impact of Legal Aid cuts has squeezed low income families out of legal representation and into representing themselves.
4. Whilst no-fault divorce has simplified the legal process for many separating couples, anecdotal evidence suggests that this has reduced the opportunity to mediate and resolve underlying conflicts, with divorce applications rising as a result.
5. Family law is now more complex than at any point before. With surrogacy and “non-traditional” family dynamics now massively in play, solicitors now have to evolve with these changes and provide new, tailored approaches to their clients.

All of these pressures are contributing to burnout levels increasing and solicitors leaving the practice area or profession entirely.