Pictured above: Helen Shaw

Fraser Brown's Family Law team will take a new direction following the appointment of Helen Shaw, who joins the firm as a Family Law solicitor and mediation specialist. 

With 17 years experience in family law, Helen, who is a trained and qualified mediator and collaborative lawyer, will play a key role in moving the Family Law department forward as it reduces its focus on Legal Aid cases, instead targeting high net worth individuals and developing the range of services offered by the department to include mediation and collaborative law. 

Excited by the opportunity ahead, Helen says that current changes in legislation mean mediation is particularly high on the agenda: "New legislation that has come into force from April means mediation is set to play a bigger and more important part in the settling of family disputes. It's exciting to be getting involved in something that is going to have such a significant impact right from the start."

The changes mean most people wanting to use the courts to settle arrangements for their children or resolve finances on divorce will have to undergo a compulsory mediation assessment session first and is one of the biggest changes to take place in the family law system in recent history. 

Leading the family team, which now numbers four fee earners, Helen deals with all aspects of family law concentrating on financial disputes as well as guiding clients through the increasing number of routes now available for resolving family disputes including mediation and collaborative law, both of which Fraser Brown are now able to offer to clients.

Helen is keen that clients are aware of all the options now available to them including not only separating couples but also those embarking on a relationship who may be unaware of the benefits of a prenuptial or cohabitation agreement. Longer term she will head up a specific mediation practice aimed at more affluent individuals.

Peter Thornley, Managing Partner at Fraser Brown, said, "Helen joins us at a time of great change within the family law system, but at a time that also offers great potential. There are very few trained and qualified mediators in the Nottingham area at the moment so we are expecting Helen's specialism to be very much in demand. 

"Her knowledge and experience makes her the perfect person to help develop our family law offering and drive it in a new direction, in line with the legislation changes and subsequent needs within the marketplace." 

Helen is well known across the East Midlands, having worked at Berryman, Flint Bishop and more recently Lincoln-based Andrew & Co before joining Fraser Brown.