Professor David Hodson OBE KC(Hons) MCIArb

Professor David Hodson OBE KC(Hons) MCIArb

Prof David Hodson OBE KC(Hons) MCIArb is a dual qualified English and Australian (NSW) solicitor, a mediator, an arbitrator and a deputy (part-time) family court judge (DDJ).

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‘A Fairer End to Relationships’: Government Proposals for Reform of Financial Remedies on Divorce and Cohabitation

‘A Fairer End to Relationships’: Government Proposals for Reform of Financial Remedies on Divorce and Cohabitation

For many years there have been strong movements to reform, improve and make clearer and more certain the law relating to financial outcomes on divorce. In early June 2026 the UK government produced a consultation paper with a very fast response date.

Your Backup Trial Is Arbitration: the London Financial Remedy Changes

Your Backup Trial Is Arbitration: the London Financial Remedy Changes

New language has entered the lexicon of London financial remedy lawyers. The Dictionary of Financial Remedies needs a new entry. A spectre has appeared on the horizon casting horrors of preparation for practitioners. Enter the backup trial. How have we got here?

Judicial Immunity: an Update

Judicial Immunity: an Update

Overview A decision in Australia in August 2023 held that a family court judge at first instance had no judicial immunity when taking a decision outside his power and distinctive family court jurisdiction and was liable in damages to one of the parties. I wrote an extensive article and commentary

Delaying a Divorce Because of Financial Prejudice: The New No-fault Law and Practice

Delaying a Divorce Because of Financial Prejudice: The New No-fault Law and Practice

Executive summary There can be real loss and prejudice in some divorce cases if the final divorce order, previously the decree absolute, is granted before the final financial settlement and its implementation in circumstances when the paying party then dies. Automatic entitlement to pensions, the primary circumstance, but also insurance

The End of the Non-Dom Tax Status: Time Now to End Family Law Domicile Jurisdiction

The End of the Non-Dom Tax Status: Time Now to End Family Law Domicile Jurisdiction

Overview Domicile has been a fundamental basis of jurisdiction in English law including English family law. But it is intrinsically backward-looking, archaic in its concepts, thoroughly unknown or at best misunderstood by the population, differently defined abroad and at odds with many other countries including the EU. With the non-domicile

AI and Family Law

AI and Family Law

Breakfast meeting, Support through Courts, 8 October 2024 AI has the real likelihood of transforming the practice of family law solicitors more than the major conceptual changes from the Children Act, the seismic shift from White or the speed of response needed from lis pendens of EU law – a transformation

Judicial Immunity: An Extraordinary Case and a Worrying Warning from Australia

Judicial Immunity: An Extraordinary Case and a Worrying Warning from Australia

Executive summary An extraordinary decision in August 2023 of the Federal Court of Australia has highlighted for English judges the risks of being sued for damages and the potential inadequacy of the defence of judicial immunity.[[1]] In the case the judge’s actions were found to be an affront