Private Financial Dispute Resolution Barrister
Instruct a senior family finance barrister to sit as your private FDR judge, or to act as your advocate at a private FDR. A faster, more considered alternative to the court based FDR, on a written fixed fee.
The private financial dispute resolution hearing has become the single most useful tool in financial remedy work. In most family finance cases of any substance, the parties and their legal teams now choose a private FDR over the court based equivalent. The reason is straightforward. The court process is under pressure, FDR hearings are listed in long lists, and the judge who reads the papers at nine in the morning will often only have ninety minutes to deal with a case worth a great deal of money to the people in front of them.
A private FDR moves that conversation into a conference room with one judge, one matter and a full day. The private FDR judge, usually a senior family finance barrister or a King's Counsel, reads the papers properly in advance, hears focused submissions from each side, then gives a clear indication on what the court would be likely to order on a final hearing. That indication is what drives the negotiation that follows. In our experience, an agreement is reached on the day in roughly seven out of every ten matters we place.
Clerk&Counsel places both the private FDR judge and the advocates for each side. We work with senior family finance counsel across the country, including those who routinely sit as a private FDR judge in cases involving complex pensions, business interests, trust structures and international assets. If you would like to discuss who would suit your matter, please contact the clerks through this form and we will respond within one working day.
Send Form E, the questionnaire replies and any expert reports. A clerk will respond with availability and a fixed fee for both the judge and counsel for the parties.
Send a brief →Why private FDR works where court FDR sometimes does not
The court based FDR is, in principle, an excellent procedure. A judge with no further involvement in the case gives a without prejudice indication on the likely outcome of the case, and the parties then negotiate. The trouble is that the court system is stretched. A district judge in a busy financial remedy list may have four or five FDRs in a single day. The reading time is short. The negotiation time is shorter still. If the matter does not settle by lunchtime, the listing usually runs out before the conversation has really started.
Private FDR removes those pressures. Both sides pay for a full day of the judge's time. The judge is chosen because their practice matches the issues, whether that is pension sharing under PODE evidence, the valuation of a private company, conduct under section 25(2)(g) or international enforcement. The judge gives a properly reasoned indication, not a quick view, and the negotiations that follow happen in a room with the right people and no time bar.
The choice of judge matters. A private FDR judge with the wrong specialism will give an indication that neither side trusts. The right judge gives an indication that both sides respect, and that is what produces settlement. We see private FDR as a form of early neutral evaluation, conducted by someone whose view on the case both parties will accept.
What we cover for a private FDR
Placing the private FDR judge
Senior junior or King's Counsel, chosen to match the asset profile, the pension complexity and any conduct or trust issues in the case.
Counsel for the parties
Public Access or solicitor instructed counsel to act as your advocate at the private FDR, draft your position statement and conduct the negotiations on the day.
Position statement and asset schedule
A focused position statement, an agreed or competing asset schedule, a section 25 analysis and the indication bundle ready for the judge.
Venue and logistics
A neutral conference room in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol or remotely by video where the case is suited to it. Separate rooms for each side and a central room for the indication and any joint sessions.
Heads of agreement and consent order
Where an agreement is reached on the day, counsel will draft signed heads of agreement before you leave and prepare the consent order and statement of information shortly after.
If the case does not settle
Continuity through to the final hearing, including drafting the questionnaire, instructing experts and conducting the trial itself. The private FDR judge takes no further part.
Frequently asked questions
What is a private financial dispute resolution hearing?
A private FDR is a privately arranged version of the court based FDR hearing in a financial remedy case. The parties and their legal teams pay an experienced family finance barrister or retired judge to sit as the private FDR judge for a day. The judge reads the papers in advance, hears short submissions from each side and then gives an indication on what a court would be likely to order. The whole thing happens in a comfortable conference room rather than a busy court building, and the judge can give the time and attention that the court process often cannot.
How is a private FDR different from a court based FDR?
A court based FDR is squeezed into a list of other matters. The judge will usually have read the papers that morning and may only have an hour to deal with you. A private FDR is booked for a full day, sometimes a day and a half, with one judge devoted to your case. Most practitioners now agree that a private FDR produces a more considered indication, more settlement room and a better chance that an agreement is reached on the day.
Who can sit as a private FDR judge?
A senior family finance barrister of at least fifteen to twenty years' call, a King's Counsel, or a retired Circuit or High Court judge. Our panel includes counsel who regularly sit as a private FDR judge across financial remedy cases up to and including very substantial asset and pension cases. We will recommend a judge whose practice matches the complexity and the size of your matter.
How much does a private FDR cost?
A typical full day private FDR with a senior junior is usually fixed between three thousand and six thousand pounds plus VAT, split equally between the parties. A King's Counsel sitting as the judge generally falls between six thousand and twelve thousand pounds plus VAT for the day. Each side will also pay their own counsel to attend and conduct the negotiations, normally on a separate brief fee. The cost is almost always less than a contested final hearing and saves months of court proceedings.
Can a direct access client use a private FDR?
Yes. We regularly arrange private FDRs where one or both of the parties are instructing counsel directly under the Public Access scheme. Your own barrister will draft the position statement, prepare the asset schedule and the section 25 analysis, and conduct the negotiations on the day. We can place both the private FDR judge and the advocates from the same panel where that is helpful.
What happens if no agreement is reached at the private FDR?
If the matter does not settle, the judge's indication remains confidential and the case proceeds to a final hearing in the court system. The private FDR judge is barred from any further involvement in the case, just as a court FDR judge would be. In our experience, even where no agreement is reached on the day, the indication usually narrows the issues considerably and many cases settle in the weeks that follow.
For the court based equivalent and the wider financial remedy procedure, see our direct access divorce barristers page and our family finance hub at family barristers.
Considering a private FDR?
Send Form E, the questionnaire replies and any expert reports. A clerk will respond within one working day with availability and a fixed fee for the judge and counsel for the parties.
Send a brief →