A divorce and separation service which launched with the aim of overseeing lawyer-free relationship breakdowns has now elected to become a fully-fledged law firm, admitting that some cases do require solicitor involvement.

Amicable, founded in 2015 as a non-regulated entity offering advice and support, has applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for authorisation to offer reserved services.

The company stressed that its approach had been hugely successful – drafting more consent orders for customers than any solicitor firm – but recognised that some disputes cannot be solved without a degree of conflict.

‘When it comes to improving the family law system for everyone in it, the couple focussed approach isn’t a panacea,’ said head of legal innovation Alex Woolley. ‘Sometimes, one person wants to engage with us but the other person does not want to - at the moment, in those cases we can’t currently work with that first person.

‘The firm has been created to allow us to service customers who for whatever reason its not safe to, or who do not want to use our negotiated couples service but who still want to benefit from the amicable ethos (non-inflammatory, pragmatic, fair) and our focus on using technology to continually improve the customer experience.’

Alongside the family law work, the new firm will provide conveyancing services for people who need to transfer property following separation or divorce.

Family and conveyancing solicitors are being recruited now ahead of SRA authorisation. Amicable said its team had spent years building software around separation, and the new firm will draw on that experience to shape its own case management, client communication and drafting tools around the client.

AI tools will support tasks like drafting, triage and research, with a qualified solicitor reviewing every piece of advice and every document that reaches a client or a court. 

The service was co-founded by Kate Daly and Pip Wilson based on Daly’s own long and expensive divorce, with the aim of providing an alternative to the traditional process involving lawyers for both parties.

Wilson, the chief executive, added: ‘We started amicable because we believed there had to be a kinder way to divorce. But working with couples together isn’t always possible for every situation, and until now we haven’t  been able to help those people ourselves. The new firm is for them. It will be built on the same values, and on the technology and innovation that let us do things in a better way.’

In 2023, energy company Octopus Group announced it had bought a majority stake in the business.