We are delighted to announce that Oliver Hall, a partner in our family team in York, has recently been awarded accreditation from the Family Mediation Council (FMC), having successfully passed the mediation foundation training and subsequent accreditation process.

Oliver is one of four accredited family lawyers within our specialist mediation team, Family Solutions, which is one of the region’s largest and most experienced teams of its kind.

Adele Wilkinson, partner and head of Family Solutions, said: – “Gaining accreditation as a family mediator is a fantastic achievement for Oliver, involving a great deal of time and effort in meeting the very high bar set by the FMC.  Oliver is now able to mediate independently for private and legally aided clients.

“Rather than see families torn apart by bitter court battles – with children often caught in the middle of high conflict situations – we encourage clients to consider mediation, which has helped many separating couples build a constructive future for their family, without a court imposing decisions on them.”

Adele, who has over 20 years’ family mediation experience and is also a mediation supervisor, said research shows that mediation is often the best way for families to resolve conflicts: – “With four accredited mediators in our team, we can help even more separating couples to choose mediation, which is proven to be quicker, less expensive and, importantly, far less hostile than going to court – an important consideration, particularly where children are involved,” she added.