We’ve proud to announce that family lawyer, Natasha Kemish, has recently been awarded accreditation from the Family Mediation Council, having successfully passed the mediation foundation training and subsequent accreditation process.

Natasha is now one of three accredited family lawyers in our specialist mediation team, Family Solutions, one of the region’s largest and most experienced teams of its kind.

Adele Wilkinson, partner and head of Family Solutions, said: “This is a great achievement for Natasha. Gaining the accreditation is no mean feat but she was able to showcase her competencies across all forms of family mediation and passed with flying colours. This means that she can now independently mediate for private and legally aided clients.

“We tend to see a spike in enquiries at this time of year, as it can be a particularly difficult time for many couples whose relationships were already under strain. Rather than see families torn apart by bitter court battles – and children often caught in the middle of it – we signpost them towards 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 that research shows that mediation is often the best way for families to resolve conflicts, as it is quicker, less expensive and, importantly, far less hostile than going to court.

“Now that we have three accredited mediators in our team, we can help even more separating couples to choose mediation, so that the process is as balanced as possible for all those affected, especially children,” she added.