Gergely Fried
Twenty years ago, a separating parent with a legal problem would usually begin by speaking to a solicitor. Today, that same parent may begin somewhere entirely different.
They might join a Facebook group. Watch YouTube videos. Download templates. Speak to a mediator. Contact a McKenzie Friend. Use an online document service. Work with a divorce coach. Ask questions on Reddit. Experiment with AI tools. Or simply follow the advice of others who have been through the system before.
This shift may be one of the most significant changes in family law over the last two decades, yet it is rarely discussed as a market change.
According to the Ministry of Justice’s Family Court Statistics Quarterly, 48% of private law case disposals in the quarter from October to December 2025 involved neither party having legal representation, while across 2025 as a whole the figure stood at 47% — up from just 14% in 2013. Both parties were represented in only 15% of cases.
That rise was not simply a change in percentages. The National Audit Office reported a 30% year-on-year increase in family court cases where neither party had legal representation in the year following the civil legal aid reforms, creating a larger population of court users looking for support beyond the traditional solicitor-client model.
The rise of litigants in person has not simply changed who appears in court. It has changed the entire support market around family proceedings.
One recent example: a father arrived at a first meeting with a Facebook group’s template bundle, a paid checklist, and a forum’s confidence that the court would see things his way. He wasn’t short of material. He was short of someone to tell him which of it actually mattered.
A new market
When lawyers discuss access to justice, the conversation often focuses on what has been lost: legal aid, affordability and representation. As more people have entered family proceedings without solicitors, a growing market has emerged to support them.
What’s emerged isn’t a single alternative to solicitors, but a tier of different services — some working closely alongside the legal profession, others operating entirely outside it, with paid coaching and limited-scope advice sitting somewhere in between.
Some of these providers are highly experienced and work alongside legal professionals every day. Others are little more than online businesses built around templates, social media content or personal experience of the system — and for a parent under pressure, that difference is not always easy to see. What the great majority of the layer shares, though, is that it carries no professional indemnity insurance and sits outside any formal complaints framework, so a client’s options if something goes wrong are far more limited than they would be with a solicitor.
The missing middle
For years, family law has often been viewed through a simple lens. A person either instructs a solicitor or represents themselves. Increasingly, that distinction no longer reflects reality.
Many litigants sit somewhere in the middle. They may not be able to afford full representation throughout proceedings, but they can afford targeted help at specific stages. They may need assistance understanding procedure, preparing documents or organising evidence. They may need advocacy at a particular hearing but not throughout the entire case.
The market has responded. What is emerging is not a replacement for solicitors or barristers, but a layer of services sitting between full representation and complete self-representation — built because the demand for something affordable, flexible and understandable is real, and growing.
Similar shifts can be seen in other countries, though the detail differs. The McKenzie Friend role itself already operates well beyond England and Wales, and the United States has developed its own version under the banner of “unbundled legal services” — though there, it’s still delivered by a licensed attorney rather than a non-lawyer. The frameworks vary, but the underlying demand for help that falls short of full representation does not.
The providers most likely to gain an advantage in this market may not be the ones offering the broadest service, but those willing to break their own offering into affordable stages and work alongside others — coaches, document services, direct access barristers — to keep the total cost down. In a market shaped this much by affordability, price may matter as much as category.
Why practitioners should pay attention
For practitioners, this shift matters because clients are arriving differently. The first consultation is no longer always the beginning of a client’s journey — more often, it is one step in a process that has already been underway for weeks or months, after the client has already passed through one or more of these alternative routes.
Clients increasingly arrive having spoken to multiple providers, gathered information from numerous sources and formed views about their case before obtaining legal advice. Some arrive expecting an outcome the law is unlikely to deliver, or focused on proving historical unfairness rather than addressing the Section 1 welfare checklist the court will actually apply.
Sometimes that earlier preparation helps. Sometimes it creates confusion the lawyer now has to unpick before real advice can begin. Either way, the solicitor is no longer necessarily the first interpreter of the problem. In many cases, they are entering a conversation that has already started elsewhere.
The changing family law marketplace
The family justice system itself remains largely unchanged. Courts still decide cases. Lawyers still advise. Barristers still advocate.
What has changed is the market surrounding the system. The rise of litigants in person has created demand for new forms of support, new business models and new ways of helping people navigate family proceedings.
The question is no longer whether this marketplace exists. It plainly does. The question is how the profession responds to a generation of clients who are increasingly entering family law through routes that did not exist twenty years ago.
FAQs
What is a litigant in person?
A litigant in person is someone who represents themselves in court without a solicitor or barrister.
Why are more people using alternative family law support services?
Many people need help with family proceedings but cannot afford full legal representation throughout a case.
What is the “missing middle” in family law?
The missing middle refers to people who do not qualify for legal aid but cannot comfortably afford full legal representation.
Do McKenzie Friends replace solicitors?
No. McKenzie Friends provide practical and procedural support but do not replace the role of a solicitor or barrister.
How has the family law marketplace changed?
The growth of litigants in person has increased demand for a wider range of support services, including mediation, coaching, document preparation and McKenzie Friend assistance.