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In light of the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) on the courts, guidance has been issued for Financial Remedies Court (FRC) judges by Mr Justice Mostyn, the national lead judge for the FRC, which states, inter alia, that:

• first appointments should be dealt with, whenever possible, using the accelerated paper-only procedure set out in the FRC
• parties should be encouraged to arrange private financial dispute resolution (FDR) appointments, to take place remotely where possible
• the default position for other hearings is that they should be dealt with either by Skype or by telephone
• the physical lodging and handling of documents should be avoided and the use of e-bundles is virtually mandatory (see the ), and
• FRC judges should endeavour to do as much work as they possibly can from home

To assist practitioners, the LexisPSL Family Practice Note on private FDRs and early neutral evaluation, authored by Rhys Taylor of The 36 Group and 30 Park Place and reviewed by HHJ Edward Hess, the deputy lead national judge for the FRC, may be downloaded below: