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Closing the gate: family lawyers as gatekeepers to a holistic service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2010

Angela Melville  and
Karen Laing
Angela Melville
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Karen Laing
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle
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Abstract

In 2001, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) introduced a new pilot, the Family Advice and Information Network (FAInS), which recognised that family law clients typically face a cluster of legal and non-legal issues. Family lawyers involved in FAInS were encouraged to address a client’s legal problems, and then refer the client to other services for assistance with non-legal issues. In this way, family law clients were to be offered a holistic service, with the lawyer acting as a ‘case manager’ who helped match services to their client’s individual needs. This article presents data drawn from an evaluation of FAInS, and shows that lawyers did not regularly refer their clients to other services, with referrals largely being limited to mediation. We conclude that family lawyers are not necessarily the most appropriate gatekeepers, and propose a number of alternatives for providing a multi-agency approach to resolving family law issues.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 167 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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