News & Articles
Keeping couples out of the courts through Consensus
“Most people walk away less than happy after they’ve experienced the traditional ‘winner takes all’ approach to family law dispute”
We’re all too familiar with the ‘war’ stories of divorcing couples battling each other in the courts at great expense, huge personal cost, and often resulting in bitter outcomes.
Recently B2B in Canberra magazine attended the official launch of Consensus Family Lawyers and heard how it makes sense for separating couples to reach agreement about their family law issues without seeking the intervention of a court.
“Most people walk away less than happy afterthey’ve experienced the traditional ‘winner takes all’ approach to family law dispute resolution
where each party has had a lawyer and gone through the courts,” director of Consensus Family Lawyers, Juliette Ford said.
Juliette and fellow director Olivia Gesini head up a team of lawyers who are trained in collaborative law – a relatively new discipline in legal practice – where the aim is to stay out of the courts and for couples to reach their own solutions with the assistance of lawyers.
“In collaborative law, the separating couple and their respective lawyers sign a contract which declares that the family law matter in question will be resolved without the threat or possibility of engaging in litigation. We find that having the four parties sign on to this contract changes the whole tone and style of the negotiationsright from the outset,” Olivia said.
The focus of collaborative law is to achieve a fair outcome for everyone involved including children. A team will be assembled which may include experts such as financial advisors, mental health professionals and child specialists who will work with the divorcing couple.
Costly legal fees are another by-product of fighting family law matters out in the courts. At Consensus Family Lawyers, they are moving to a system of lump sum fixed fees.
“We are providing some services at a fixed fee and are working towards offering our clients a fixed fee for all our services rather than us charging
them at an hourly rate. This certainty in fee structure has proved extremely popular with our clients as they are able to keep tight tabs on their legal costs.”
