The decision to meet with a family lawyer may not be an easy one and it may seem daunting or confronting.
People often come to us feeling dejected, powerless, or overwhelmed. You may feel the same way, and you may even worry that seeing a lawyer will make things worse and be very expensive.
These are all understandable concerns. At FGD the primary focus of the initial meeting with our client is to try understanding what concerns/goals they have and to formulate a strategy to meet those. We have a ‘no surprises policy’ about our costs and will discuss those with you prior to doing any work.
The meeting will be tailored to what advice our client needs, but some examples of the topics that may be discussed in a family law matter include:
- Property settlement;
- Arrangements for children;
- Financial support;
- Child support;
- Divorce;
- Family Violence;
- Costs.
We aim to have our clients leave their initial appointment with greater clarity about the direction of their matter and empowered to make informed decisions about the process. Our clients often tell us they feel a lot better after their initial meetings with us and we recommend that our clients seek advice early in their matter to ensure they protect their position.
It is our policy to provide our clients with a letter summarising what we discussed in our initial meeting so they can refer back to that if they need.
How to prepare for your meeting?
There are a few ways you can prepare to meet with your family lawyer, which we summarise below:
- Consider whether you wish to bring a support person – Going through a separation can be a stressful time. If you wish to bring a support person to the meeting, you can.
- Complete our confidential client information form – We will send you the link to that form prior to your meeting. The form will ask you for general information about your matter. Your answers will help us to prepare for the meeting and get to the heart of the issues in your matter.
- Prepare a list of questions that you would like answered at the meeting – Don’t be afraid to ask those questions if they have not all been answered by the end of the meeting.
- Prepare a list of your goals and what else is important to you – That list will be very important in formulating the best approach in your matter.
- Contact your lawyer if you have any questions after your meeting with us/after you receive our initial letter of advice.
If all of the above is too overwhelming, and you would like to come in for a chat to figure out if we are the right fit for you, that is not a problem, and we are happy to accommodate your needs.
If you’re considering making an appointment with a family lawyer at FGD, but would like to know more about the process, you are welcome to give us a call at a convenient time for a preliminary chat.
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Article By: Anastasios Keramianakis
Family Lawyer
Tassi is a compassionate and driven advocate. He helps his clients work out their goals and develops clever strategic pathways to achieve them. Over his years of practice, Tassi has built a reputation for being able to navigate difficult and high conflict family law matters. He holds a degree in accounting which gives him an edge in complex property and financial cases.