Manchester Legal Awards: Family lawyer who campaigned for no-fault divorce wins lifetime honour

A household attorney who helped direct a campaign to introduce no fault divorces in England and Wales has been honoured for his lifetime’s operate at the North’s major legal awards.

Nigel Shepherd, of Mills & Reeve, was previous evening offered with the Life span Achievement Award at the Manchester Authorized Awards.

Hundreds of customers of the North West authorized neighborhood collected at the Midland Hotel for the black tie occasion to honour colleagues functioning in fields from legal law to household and employment legislation.

Mr Shepherd was a well known winner of the Lifetime Accomplishment title, which honours people who have had “an unrivalled affect and lasting contribution to the legal companies market place in the area throughout their life span”.

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Other winners provided Brabners, Eversheds Sutherland and DWF.

Mr Shepherd was twice the nationwide chairman of Resolution, the countrywide association of famiy justice experts, wherever he aided force for very important authorized reforms.

In their quotation for Mr Shepherd final evening, the awards judges stated: “Reforming divorce law has been a specialist and personal mission for most of his career. In his very first stint as chair, he led Resolution by the extremely billed political debate that resulted in the Family Law Act 1996, which would have released no fault divorce but was never applied.”

Resolution at that time experienced just just one staff members member – so Mr Shepherd persuaded users to fund lobbying and PR guidance as a result of a levy on best of the membership charge.

The judges claimed: “As a result, the organisation was in a position to punch properly above its weight and make a major contribution to the passage of the laws. It also represented a action improve in the organisation’s profile and affect.

“Nigel recognized the invitation to develop into chair all over again principally due to the fact he and Resolution saw no fault divorce, and other crucial concerns of law reform, as unfinished business. In his final two-calendar year expression at Resolution, he continued to encourage the arguments and be the critical spokesperson for change via the print and broadcast media, briefings with politicians, communications with users and by his membership of the advisory board supporting Professor Liz Trinder’s Finding Fault exploration.”

In 2018 Mills & Reeve efficiently applied for Resolution to intervene in the extensively documented Supreme Courtroom proceedings of Owens v Owens, which revolved all around the interpretation of so-referred to as “unreasonable conduct”.

When Mrs Owens did not get her divorce, the situation was a catalyst for improve as the Supreme Courtroom known as on Parliament to get action. As a final result the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 – which gets rid of fault from the divorce course of action – was handed and was implented on April 6 this year.

Legal scholar Professor Liz Trinder has mentioned: “During his two stints as nationwide chair of Resolution, Nigel has been an completely tireless campaigner to support the growth of each great family law apply and excellent family members regulation. He has done so with superior humour, unlimited enthusiasm and enthusiasm. I can’t consider of anybody who has done extra to attempt to secure divorce regulation reform in this place.”

Mr Shepherd claimed: “I arrived up for what was then Manchester Polytechnic in 1975,did my diploma, achieved my spouse in the very first expression, and we appreciated it below so we stayed. Most of my existence has been here, in contrast to getting in the south in which I was born.

“Due to the fact then I have found the market adjust phenomenally, the career is really distinct now. I mean, I started out off in a extremely modest two husband or wife company carrying out my training in Gately, then I moved to a perfectly acknowledged firm termed Slater Heelis, and I did all kinds of litigation function.

“I did prison function, household, industrial litigation, I did some prosecuting for the division of social stability. So, I have always done spouse and children, I started out to do much more and much more of it and in the end I finished up specialising entirely in family members legislation.

“I began specialising in family law get the job done significantly and then I moved to do practically nothing but spouse and children regulation when I came into the city centre in 1993, and I’ve stayed due to the fact.

“I’ve always experienced an affinity with spouse and children law and I truly take pleasure in the work. I started off to not get pleasure from the criminal operate as significantly as I had accomplished in the early days.

“It became a lot more hard, the lawful support condition turned a lot more complicated. I still totally loved the court docket perform, but I gravitated towards accomplishing a lot more and far more relatives and then I bought this possibility to come to be a companion in a city centre company so I took that and that was it.

“I have always been greatly involved in the countrywide loved ones justice team identified as Resolution. I became a member of that in the mid 80’s. It was launched in 1982 – so early times.

“I was included in the first steering committee in Manchester to get the regional group set up and then I turned 1 of the early regional chairs of Resolution.

“Then I stood for their national committee, which is like their board, and bought onto that, and then I inevitably worked my way up starting to be national chair in the mid 90’s.

“I was closely associated in that. I led the organisation through a campaign for ‘no fault divorce’, and that was in the mid 90s. We got the laws, but it was by no means implemented. So I remained on the board of Resolution and however fully commited to seeking to get this large change in the legislation by and I recognized the invitation to turn out to be national chair once more in 2016 – the only particular person to have carried out it twice.

“I did it really a lot since I observed ‘no fault divorce’ as unfinished small business and we felt that we could get it via. We carried on the campaigning and at some point we received the ‘no fault divorce’ legislation handed in 2020 and it obtained applied on the 6th of April this yr.

“So, we have succeeded in changing the regulation, it can be the most considerable improve to divorce law for 50 % a century.

“It signifies that we have now obtained a new process of divorce for anybody setting up from the 6th of April, which isn’t going to want blame attached at all, it is just a notification.

“1 person, or for the first time ever, equally folks, can jointly do it. There doesn’t have to be alleged adultery, no unreasonable behaviour allegations, none of that blame video game.

“It offers men and women a substantially far better possibility of ideally trying to keep the temperature down and getting a improved chance of sorting matters out, which is the large objective.

“Resolution associates test to lessen conflict, to promote settlement and recall that individuals are nonetheless mom and dad even if they’re not heading to be collectively any longer. If you can decrease the temperature you can give individuals a superior probability of sorting issues out amicably.

“It truly is been extremely much a crew effort and hard work, but I’ve variety of spearheaded it so I’ve been specified this kind of nickname of Mr ‘no fault divorce’. It is been a team energy, heaps of assistance, heaps of persons supporting which include the personnel team at Resolution.

“I always considered we may possibly get it but I was not positive it was going to be although I was continue to skillfully associated in the Regulation or nevertheless in fact alive and kicking. I genuinely required to get it performed before I retired, I genuinely wished to see that via so it was wonderful that we did.

“It truly is a authentic honour to get this award. If you look at the form of persons who have obtained it in the previous, there are some actually big names of the Manchester authorized scene so to be in the same ballpark as them is a actual honour and a privilege.

“It can be my hometown, it is my skilled property, so to get that recognition from your peers is significantly unique.

Mr Shepherd said desired to pay out particular many thanks to “the corporations, specially at Mills and Reeve, have been extremely supportive because I was a lover in the organization and they accommodate me starting to be a chair at resolution yet again in 2016”.

He additional: “We worked in a way that I could do that, and created place for all the perform and campaigning I was accomplishing. As a company, we are deeply committed to resolution – all of our legal professionals are associates and so we’re quite supportive of it, we consider it is really the right way to apply.

“Resolution associates, resolution committee members and the staff crew – couldn’t have finished it devoid of them. Superb exertion.

“And my family, they have been putting up with me banging on about this for about as prolonged as my daughters have been alive, and it’s an indication of how significantly they invested in it.

“When we listened to that the legislation was going to go by means of they purchased me a hoodie with ‘no fault divorce’ prepared on it.

“You can’t do this form of stuff on your very own, without having that help, it just would not have been attainable.

“It is a actually great bookend to my job, I was seriously youthful when I began this off in the early 90’s, so to see it as a result of over 25 several years afterwards, it can be just great to feel variety of as however my operate is accomplished.

“I’m nonetheless a marketing consultant with the company, I have what some may possibly contact a portfolio vocation now, but retirement is substantially extra soothing. I’m participating in a whole lot much more golf, I however engage in soccer and I engage in piano a lot far more now that I have more time to do it.”

Previous night’s awards have been organised by Manchester Law Society, with Interlink as principal sponsor. BusinessLive’s sister title the Manchester Night News is media husband or wife.

Paul Johnson, president of Manchester Regulation Society and a associate at Ward Hadaway in Manchester, claimed: “Nonetheless again, this yr has noticed us obtain a large number of submissions and the standard has been certainly excellent. The quality of those people submissions is testament to the truth that the Manchester legal profession is flourishing and we all have a lot to celebrate and be very pleased of.”

Winners at the Manchester Legal Awards 2022

Organization Support Winner/s of the Calendar year Award

Sponsor – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Winners – Charlotte Dixon, Mills & Reeve AND Laura West, Anthony Collins Solicitors

Trainee/Paralegal/Apprentice/Authorized Government of the Year Award

Sponsor – Manchester Metropolitan College

Winner – Jonathan Holling, JMW Solicitors LLP

Solicitor of the Calendar year Award

Sponsor – Harbour

Winner – Moe Yassin, Further than Regulation Group

Equality, Range and Inclusion Champion/s of the Yr

Sponsor – Appleyard Lees

Winner – Brabners LLP

Company/Professional – Group of the Year Award

Sponsor – Interlink Recruitment

Winner – Eversheds Sutherland LLP

Remarkably Counseled – Pannone Corporate

Crime – Staff of the Year Award

Sponsor – Matrix 247

Winner – Slater Heelis

Hugely Commended – Burton Copeland LLP

Employment – Crew of the 12 months Award

Sponsor – Matrix 247

Winner – Leigh Day

Spouse and children – Staff of the Calendar year Award

Sponsor – Shard Capital

Winner – McAllister Family Legislation

Litigation – Workforce of the Calendar year Award

Sponsor – Quantuma

Winner – Weightmans LLP

Very Counseled – Brabners LLP

Particular Injury/Clinical Carelessness – Workforce of the Yr Award

Sponsor – RMS PR

Winner – Stephensons Solicitors LLP

Personal Shopper – Workforce of the 12 months Award

Sponsor – 5 Wealth Ltd

Winner – JMW Solicitors

Property – Group of the Calendar year Award

Sponsor – Landmark Information and facts Team

Winner – Eversheds Sutherland LLP

Extremely Commended – Fieldfisher LLP

Regulatory – Crew of the Calendar year Award

Sponsor – Manchester Night News

Winner – DWF Regulation LLP

In-home Staff of the Year

Sponsor – Quiss Know-how

Winner – Financial institution North

Remarkably Recommended – Boohoo Team plc

Barrister/QC of the 12 months Award

Sponsor – Manchester Regulation Society

Winner – Dr Christopher McNall, 18 St John Road Chambers

Associate of the Calendar year Award

Sponsor – Legmark

Winner – Vikki Woodfine, DWF Legislation

Barristers’ Chambers of the Year Award

Sponsor – Weightmans LLP

Winner – St John’s Buildings Chambers

Regulation Organization of the 12 months – Small (1-5 associates nationally)

Award Sponsor – Lawshare

Winner – Olliers Solicitors

Legislation Company of the 12 months – Medium (6-20 associates nationally)

Award Sponsor – MFL Insurance policies Team Ltd

Winner – Further than Legislation Team

Remarkably Recommended – CFG Law

Law Firm of the Year – Huge (20+ associates nationally)

Award Sponsor – Harbour

Winner – TLT LLP

Life span Accomplishment Award

Sponsor – inCase

Winner – Nigel Shepherd, Mills & Reeve