Guidelines on how to find the right family lawyer for you

Posted: 18/12/2019

When you have a family law problem and need help, how can you be sure of finding the right family law solicitor for you and your particular situation?

Our advice is to start by word of mouth. Most of our clients come to us by personal referral. Former clients often recommend us to one of their friends and sometimes we are even recommended by a client's opponent who was impressed by the way we acted for our client against them.

Any solicitor you select should be a member of Resolution, as are all the members of the Penningtons Manches Cooper family law team. You can find Resolution members via the Resolution website.

Every Resolution member follows a code of practice and will:

Reduce or manage any conflict and confrontation – such as not using inflammatory language;
Support and encourage families to put the best interests of any children first;
Act with honesty, integrity and objectivity;
Help clients understand and manage the potential long-term financial and emotional consequences of their decisions;
Listen to and treat everyone with respect and without judgment;
Use their experience and knowledge to guide clients through the options available to them;
Continually develop their knowledge and skills;
Use the Resolution Guides to Good Practice in their day-to-day work;
Work with other Resolution members to uphold this code and ensure it is at the heart of everything.

Having selected a solicitor who you think you could work with, give them a call. A few years ago one of our team was tested against a number of competitors by a "mystery shopper" with a fake family law enquiry. He performed strongly in comparison with other family law teams in the area. The reasons were because the caller was put through directly to a lawyer and, as well as handling the query effectively, he followed up the call in writing. The "client" was also given information about the potential costs if they wished to take the matter further.

So, if you make an appointment, what is the next step? We have now introduced "Settify", a custom-built tool that enhances the experience of new clients wishing to explore their options on a variety of family law issues. It allows you to make a meaningful start on your case in your own time and space, gathers your key data and facts, and helps us as lawyers to provide better value by spending less time on administration and more time with you discussing advice, strategy and options.

Front-loading the information in this way means that our clients will feel better prepared when they first step through our doors and together we can have a more focused and productive initial meeting that more directly addresses the issues that matter to the individual and their family.

So can we provide the right family law solicitor for you? We are confident that the answer is "yes" so please do get in touch.

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