Seeing a Family Solicitor - no need to worry...
In family situations which are so personal it can sometimes feel awkward to discuss things with a solicitor, or worry that by doing so, you might escalate the conflict even further.
One of Lawson West's family law solicitors, Helen Shaw, shares her experience of people's concerns....
I’m nervous about seeing a solicitor for the first time. Discussing such personal information with a stranger feels awkward.
The solicitors in our family team are all experienced, specialist lawyers. We pride ourselves on our professionalism, but we are also approachable, friendly and good listeners. What you tell us is usually in strict confidence, (we will explain any exceptions to this).
As a man who’s involved in a difficult divorce and dispute about seeing my children, I am not confident that a female solicitor would be on my side. She would be bound to sympathise with my wife.
We are passionate about representing all our clients’ best interests and about treating our clients with the greatest respect, regardless of their gender, beliefs, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. It’s the cornerstone of being a good family law solicitor that we are there to represent your interests, whoever you are.
Even so, we have both male and female solicitors and if you feel more comfortable with a particular solicitor, we will respect your choice.
Me and my ex-partner are amicable even though we’ve split-up. I’m worried that a solicitor will make things worse by causing arguments between us.
All the family law team at Lawson-West are members of Resolution, and organisation of specialist family law practitioners who commit to acting in a constructive and non-confrontational way. We practice what we preach and we subscribe to that code. That means we do not behave in a way likely to provoke unnecessary arguments. This includes keeping our communications with your ex-partner, and their solicitor respectful and to the point, avoiding personal comments likely to inflame the situation.
But won’t you encourage clients to go to court rather than settling the case? Solicitors want to make money after all.
We take time to listen to you and discuss all the available alternatives, which may include using other ways of resolving your dispute such as mediation. Our primary aim is to help you get the outcome closest to what you are looking for. We would much rather have satisfied clients who have achieved the outcome they want, whether this involves referring you to another agency or making an application to court if necessary.
Doesn’t your commitment to working in this conciliatory way mean that you are weak and won’t stand-up for my rights?
Far from it. We will use whatever means are appropriate to secure the best outcome for you. If you need to make an application to court we will assist you in doing this and will help you fight the case to the very best of our ability.
We will also be honest with you about the strengths and weaknesses of your case and what is a realistic outcome. And we will be transparent about the costs you will pay, providing you with as much information as we can about how much it is likely to cost and reviewing that as the case progresses.
All this sounds very expensive. Am I going to be committing to spending thousands of pounds if I contact you for an appointment?
We offer an initial fixed fee appointment where we can discuss your case and advise you in writing, without any obligation for you to carry on. We understand that you are trusting a solicitor with some of the most difficult and personal decisions you may ever have to make and it’s important to choose the right person. We are confident that once you meet us you will know you’ve made the right choice.
To find out more about Lawson-West's family law team, read our digital brochure here, or Contact Us.
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