In this Family Dispute Resolution Week, new research has been released by Consensus Collaboration Scotland, commissioned by family law charity Resolution, showing that 15% of respondents said that one or more colleagues had needed to take sick leave as a direct result of a relationship breakdown, and that 14% of respondents had said that separation and divorce had had a negative impact on productivity at work.

Despite the stereotypes, lawyers are not all greedy and aggressive shysters who reach for a court writ at the first opportunity. In all except a very few cases, there are almost always less stressful, combative and expensive ways to deal even with heated disputes: collaboration, negotiation, mediation and even arbitration are often the best ways forward.

A good adviser will review the different ways forward with you at the beginning, and will keep things under review as time goes on. Never be afraid to ask, though.