Bristol University

University of Bristol

Any lawyer needs to research their chosen field to the greatest degree, if they are going to be a major player within the legal industry and offer informed legal advice to their clients; a criminal lawyer must study the ins and outs of the criminal mind through psychological research, a property lawyer must look in to the statistics of town planning and the rise and fall of the population in their area just as a divorce lawyer must study the sociological theory behind family law. Luckily for them, The University of Bristol have focused much of their law department's attention on studying family law, with top professors and lecturers performing high quality research into several key areas and producing results that will be of great use for any divorce lawyer.

During the 1970's and 80's, former law commissioner Professor Stephen Cretney began to develop doctrinal and historical studies of family law in Bristol, studies which are still cited as key influences on other researchers today. It is because of such studies that social theorists can perform even more in-depth research into the behavioural patterns of families, particularly those whose marriages end in divorce. If a divorce lawyer is well acquainted with such studies, then it gives them a strong backing to argue a case in court, perhaps utilising specialist knowledge that the opposition do not possess.

The University of Bristol's website gives more information on their particular areas of interest, with their family law researchers engaging in wide range of issues in family law. They are using their wide experience to work on projects in public child law and family property and are also focusing on family law practice in England an Wales, including comparative work and international issues in child law and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They have a vested interest in adoption and inter-country adoption, public law children including the impact of law on social work, kinship care and special guardianship and Private child law, including child abduction and the enforcement of orders, all of which would be useful research to a divorce lawyer. Other issues that would be of interest to a divorce lawyer would include child support and child maintenance, instances of forced marriage and the cohabitation and the rights and responsibilities in families without marriage, stepfamilies and family property on divorce and separation; these are all covered by the Bristol University law department's research.