STEPHEN Anderson, a solicitor and collaborative practitioner at Birketts LLP, has been elected as the new chairman of Resolution's Ipswich and East Suffolk Regional Group.

STEPHEN Anderson, a solicitor and collaborative practitioner at Birketts LLP, has been elected as the new chairman of Resolution's Ipswich and East Suffolk Regional Group. He will take up this role alongside his position as the secretary of the Ipswich Collaborative Law Practice and Development Practitioners Group (IPOD).

Mr Anderson, who qualified 14 years ago, undertook his law degree at the University of Westminster and his legal practice course at the College of Law in London. He previously worked for Sudbury firm Bates Wells and Braithwaite before joining the Ipswich office of Birketts LLP in 2007.

Originally set up in 1983, Resolution is an association of over 5000 family lawyers campaigning to change the way family disputes are handled. There are around 5,000 members throughout England & Wales committed to resolving disagreements in a non-confrontational way.

Mr Anderson, who has been a member of Resolution for six years, believes passionately that the courts are not the best place to resolve personal differences, and that a family lawyer's role is not to emphasise the differences between couples, but to help them reach a successful outcome using constructive and “Resolution has such a central role in the campaign for improvements to family law that I am very proud to be a member and am honoured to have been chosen by my peers to chair the regional group,” he said.

“I hope that, through the support of the members, we will be able to bring about a sea-change in the way relationship breakdowns are dealt with and instead of being seen as part of the problem specialist family lawyers are seen as improving the outcomes for the couple and all those who are close to them."