Last week's diary:

Tuesday: Back to work, grateful that the bank holiday weekend is over. A quiet day, although a secretary who works in our basement did think she heard an animal moving inside the blocked chimney in her room.

Wednesday: Appeared in the Magistrates' Court - a rare occurrence for me since I stopped doing legal aid work. Likely to occur more frequently though, with the County Court easing its list by transferring matters to the Magistrates' Court, as happened in this case. Got back from court and the secretary reported that she could still hear something moving in the chimney, so I helped to open it up. No sign of life inside.

Thursday: Had a presentation from a company that produces videos for clients to watch while waiting in reception - you know, like you get at post offices and banks. Will do wonders for business, apparently. We shall see whether the firm is convinced. Still no sign of life inside the chimney, although the secretary swears she can hear a bird in there.

Friday: Another quiet day. The secretary still hears sounds from the chimney, and a colleague opens it up. Nip outside for a fag at lunchtime. Hear someone trying to open a window. Look round to see who it is - a pigeon! A bit sooty, but none the worse for falling down a 50-foot chimney, and even for spending three days in a solicitors' office. Thankfully, now flown away, and hopefully won't be back to sue the firm for false imprisonment, or in this case, 'doing bird'.

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The inquest into the death of Mark Saunders was told this morning that he was shot at least five times, with more than one type of bullet.

Comparisons will inevitably be made with the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005, but there is of course one essential difference: de Menezes was unarmed. That said, let's hope the full facts surrounding the shooting come out this time.

The inquest was adjourned for four months.

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As a tribute to the late Miles Kington, The Independent has been reproducing some of his writing. With its relevance to the subject of this blog, this column, republished today, amused me.

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There is worrying news for future family lawyers in the May issue of the BBC Focus magazine. With sperm counts dropping, they speculate that within a hundred years scientists could perfect the process of parthenogenesis in humans, combining the unfertilised eggs from one woman to create an embryo. This may preserve the human genome, but it has one drawback, at least for us men. Because only genetic material from the mother is used, the offspring only have X chromosomes, and are therefore all female.

Now, any female readers may think that this is no bad thing, but before you start celebrating I should say that the article concludes that the above scenario is unlikely, in view of technical and ethical difficulties. Meanwhile, I suggest that any future family lawyers hedge their bets by offering another specialism as well!

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Mr Justice Coleridge caused quite a stir with his widely-reported comments about family breakdown at Resolution's annual conference last week. Laws of Love did a piece on it yesterday, and I certainly agree that the judge made some good points, especially about the lack of funding for the family justice system and the failure of successive governments to “face up to the need to reform the substantive law of divorce, financial ancillary relief and the law relating to cohabitants". However, I can't help but wonder just how qualified he is to comment upon family life in this country. What does Sir Paul James Duke Coleridge, son of a Major and educated at Cranleigh School (motto: 'From Culture comes Strength') know about the realities for the vast majority of people? No doubt he has come across many things during his illustrious career, but has he ever rubbed shoulders with those who are forced to live in the ghettos where so much of the "youth crime, child abuse, drug addiction and binge-drinking" takes place? I'm not saying that he doesn't have a right to comment - of course he does - just that he is not necessarily the best qualified social commentator.

The other point I wanted to make about the speech is one already picked up by Charon QC - the language he used, which at times reached a level of absurd hyperbole. Talk of a "cancerous" increase in broken families is straight out of the Daily Mail, and of a “never ending carnival of human misery - a ceaseless river of human distress” is just a little bit of an exaggeration. However, to compare the effects of family breakdown to those of global warming (if, indeed, there is such a thing) is plain inanity. An increase in crime and unhappiness levels in this country hardly compares with the destruction of the planet's ecosystem.

[Update: The full text of the speech can now be found here. (PDF)]

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It's an all-too-common scenario: there are only a couple of weeks or even days to go before the final hearing and one of the parties is not happy with the way the case is going, so they decide they need representation, or to change solicitor. They then come to you, expecting you to miraculously turn things around. The fact of the matter, of course, is that you've barely got time to arrange for them to be represented at all, let alone properly prepare the case. Please, if you're going to instruct/change solicitors, don't leave it to the last minute.

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The tragedy that is the McCartney divorce continues, as reported by the Telegraph tonight. Apparently, Lady McCartney's former lawyers are chasing her for up to £2 million in unpaid bills, and she may take legal action of her own against them because, according to a 'source', she has got nothing for her money. She is due to represent herself at the final hearing next week.

Meanwhile, yesterday NASA transmitted The Beatles' song "Across The Universe" in the direction of the North Star Polaris, to celebrate 'Across the Universe Day', the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, the 50th anniversary of NASA's founding and the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Deep Space Network.

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Having so successfully predicted the top family law news stories of 2007, here are my predictions for 2008:

January - The former office of Messrs. Brow, Beaten & Bankrupt of Little Sodbury, the last firm to offer a legal aid service, reopens as a McDonald's restaurant.

February - Heather Mills releases an instructional DVD, "How to keep calm during your divorce".

March - The Government announces that it has finalised its plans to reform the Child Support Agency. Apart from a different name (C-MEC), the new agency will be exactly the same as the CSA, but half the size.

April - McDonald's in Little Sodbury announces that it will now offer a free divorce with every burger.

May - Mr Justice Singer is reprimanded after he suggests that a black wife might prefer to receive maintenance in the form of bananas.

June - C-MEC announces that all of its records have been lost, when they are eaten by a clerk's dog.

July - The Legal Services Commission increase legal aid rates by 0.1%, in a last-ditch effort to entice solicitors back into legal aid. There are no takers.

August - The Office for National Statistics announces that the divorce rate has fallen again. The Department for Work and Pensions announces that the number of unemployed solicitors has increased again.

September - Fathers' rights group The Real Families Need Fathers 4 Justice executes its most audacious stunt to date, painting Gordon Brown's face red. However, after the PM's latest loss of records embarrassment (his Cliff Richard collection), no one notices.

October - C-MEC announces that, to reduce its workload, all arrears more than a week old will be remitted.

November - Climate change campaigners protest outside Parliament, calling for the abolition of divorce.

December - In the New Years' Honours, Bruce Hyman receives a knighthood for services to the legal profession.

Happy New Year!

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Happy winter solstice to all readers of Family Lore. I nearly didn't write this post for fear of being considered politically correct. Heaven forbid. Winter solstice was, of course, celebrated in Britain long before it was hijacked by Christianity, and relates to a real phenomenon rather than a myth - that is why I recommend it be celebrated, not so that other religions are not offended. So, light your bonfires, break out the sweet ale and start the feasting! Or, in my case, light a cigarette and open a bottle of lager...

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Just a quick post to say that I've updated my page on sources of free legal advice, including adding a number of new links and updating existing links.

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Apologies to anyone who was unable to access Family Lore yesterday. Unfortunately my domain host's nameserver went down on Friday evening, and the problem was not resolved until last night. I was not alone...

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I'm often asked by clients why we don't reciprocate when their husband/wife/partner fails to conduct proceedings reasonably, or even to comply with the requirements of the court - after all, they get away with it. My response is always that we should endeavour to conduct ourselves in a reasonable and proper fashion, even if they don't.

Well, a case reported briefly in The Times this week is a lesson in why the conduct of proceedings is important. Mr Klammers was appealing against the refusal of the English court to grant him a stay of the decree absolute, pending his appeal in the French Court of Appeal as to whether a French court had been correct in holding that the English court had been seised of the divorce proceedings first. In refusing his appeal the Court of Appeal (in England) emphasised the husband’s misconduct in not only failing to pursue the French appeal expeditiously but also in his "total disregard" of assurances given to the English court. But for that misconduct, Mr Klammers may have succeeded, and if his French appeal was also successful then the divorce proceedings may have taken place in France rather than the 'divorce capital of the world', with the result that he might achieve a far more favourable divorce settlement.

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Last night I watched Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC1, featuring John Hurt's efforts to trace his family history. The programme started with Hurt, who was born in England to English parents, telling us how, when he first went to Ireland, he felt like he was 'coming home'. Unfortunately for Hurt, his investigations did not prove any Irish ancestry, and by the end of the programme he was left clearly disappointed.

I have never believed in this phenomenon of 'coming home to the place of my ancestors' - it is no more than wishful thinking. There is no record of 'place' stored in your genes. What Hurt experienced when he first visited Ireland was the beauty of the place and it's people, coupled with an erroneous belief that he shared ancestry with them.

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As so often at this time of year, it's been a quiet period for serious family law news, so here are a few somewhat less serious tidbits to fill the stomachs of those waiting for the next main course:

It's good to see that Fathers 4 Justice founder Matt O'Connor has not mellowed with age, as demonstrated by this interview with The Guardian. O'Connor describes our family courts as "Kafkaesque", and says that we have a "North Korean style of family justice", a view that I'm not sure will find favour with those who work in the system.

Celebrity divorces do still make the news. Thierry Henry "could face the biggest ever divorce payout for a footballer", according to the Telegraph. How many people will be sympathetic towards someone who reportedly receives £130,000 per week for kicking a football around?

Still on the subject of those with money, divorce lawyers in America are reportedly advising clients who have suffered as a result of the recent stock market crash to cut their losses by divorcing their wives. Clearly, pecunia vincit amor.

Finally, spare a thought for Kevin Quinn, who was caught as he tried to get married for the third time – without divorcing either his first or his second wife. Quinn claimed to have been in a drunken state for so many years that he had not got around to divorcing his first wife. Now he has a suspended prison sentence to go with his hangover.

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... and I've just noticed that the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers is not the only place where Family Lore has made the media this week. In their 'Web week' column The Lawyer, referring to this post, is clearly sympathetic to the plight of us divorce lawyers, following the news that the divorce rate is the lowest for 22 years...

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Some people never know when they're beaten. Like a boxer who's been knocked down twice, John Charman, refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords, is apparently considering getting up again and continuing his quest for a court that will find in his favour. This time he may apply to the court in Bermuda, where he now lives. If he does, I hope the Bermudan court refuses to deal with the matter on the basis that he has already exhausted his remedies in another jurisdiction, so that Mrs Charman can be allowed to get on with her life.

Meanwhile, in America a husband in a divorce case is claiming that he can fire his wife’s lawyer and sign his wife’s name on a contract to sell the couple’s house, because a little-known section of state law says a husband may act as his wife’s attorney or agent. Could lead to some interesting situations!

It's always nice when couples can remain on good terms after divorce, especially where children are involved, but Britney Spears may be taking things a little too far. She is reported to be planning to take her now ex-husband Kevin Federline to Disney World to celebrate their divorce. Perhaps she's just taking the Mickey...

Lastly, Stagecoach bus driver Alan Curran has been threatened with divorce if he drives buses branded "Champions of Champions Liverpool FC". His wife, an avid Evertonian, has told him to refuse or face divorce, but he says if he refuses he could face the sack. Clearly, Mrs Curran is a woman who has her priorities right...

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Just a quick footnote to my rant about the misuse of the term 'registry office' from a few months back. Today I found out that the divorce petition in one of my matters (prepared by the other side I hasten to add) was rejected by the court, one of the reasons being that the term 'registry office' had been used when it should be 'register office'. So perhaps I wasn't just being pedantic after all...

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I'm afraid I returned to sunny England today, so 'normal service' around here will now be resumed, or at least it will be as soon as I've got rid of my backlog of work.

Don't you love those post-holiday blues...

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I'm on holiday for the next week, so things may get a little quiet around here. I'm off to Spain, a civilised country where you're still allowed to smoke and the Rioja is cheap (eat your heart out Charon!). What's more, the sun actually shines. I may struggle from my sunbed to write the odd post, we'll see...

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Bystander recently made an excellent point about lawmaking in this country in this post. He said:

I have complained time and again over the Government's habit of passing new (and usually useless) laws every time that something alarms the tabloids. Now we have a serious, albeit bungled, attempt to blow up a lot of people and what do we read? The first man to be charged has been charged under the 1883 Explosive Substances Act. I rest my case.

The other side of the coin is good law that is not passed because of the tabloids. In an article in today's Guardian Unlimited Karen McKay, chief executive of Resolution, referring to the opposition to the introduction of a no-fault divorce system, is quoted as saying:

It's a bit like abortion; you can't have divorce on demand. You have to cite certain specified grounds. And that can be highly inflammatory. The Daily Mail seems to have this idea that otherwise, people will go around saying 'Oh, it's Tuesday, I'll go to Sainsbury's and then I'll have an abortion, and now oh look, it's Wednesday, I think I'll divorce my husband.' But it isn't like that.

It seems that we will all be stuck with bad or outdated law, until such time as either people stop reading the bigoted scaremongering rubbish contained in the 'popular press', or we have a government prepared to do what is best, rather than what gets it the most votes.

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