With the Spears/Federline, Mills/McCartney divorces and a string of other celebrity marriages, as Paul McCartney described it, "going through hell" in recent months, a leading Nottingham lawyer has suggested a potential answer to their troubles – both personal and financial.

Patrick Mullins, family partner and mediation specialist at West Bridgford-based Robert Barber Solicitors advises that mediation could be the perfect solution. "Not only is mediation a neutral process helping both parties retain control over the decisions that affect them, it avoids bitter court battles and the additional stress, strain and costs that come with them.

"Court action can be costly and lengthy and can cause irreparable damage to relationships so eliminating this factor is a positive step for all parties, including the solicitors."

A recent research paper by the National Audit Office (NAO) suggested that solicitors are putting their fees before the welfare of their clients*. By attending mediation sessions, a couple may not spend as much on their divorce compared to a court battle and therefore a lawyer may not be paid as much. Patrick added: "Many couples still do not know that mediation is an option for them and if their solicitor doesn’t advise it, they may go through an unnecessary court battle.

"I hope I am not alone in being a lawyer that wants to help people first and in turn make a living for myself, not the other way round."

NAO reported that 149,000 couples seeked a divorce between October 2004 and March 2006 but only 29,000 had tried mediation, leaving 120,000 couples going through court proceedings, a third of which weren't even offered mediation.

Founded almost 150 years ago, Robert Barber Solicitors has three partners who specialise in a range of legal services including family law, family mediation and collaborative law.

* http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/06-07/0607256.pdf