Episodes
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Jessica Strangio and Stephanie Azzi from Rafton Family Lawyers https://rafton.com.au/
At the Pacifica Congress Conference live in Hobart 2023 www.pacificacongress.org
The Inside Family Law Podcast is hosted by Zoe Durand at Mediation Answers www.mediationanswers.com.au in partnership with Lawyer Magic and ArtWork.
If you would like to attend the champagne celebration on 1 November 2023 for the Inside Family Law and network with our remarkable guests that we have hosted over the years secure your spot at: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/736405357247?aff=oddtdtcreator
- “Focusing on outcomes… parties just want to resolve their matters… it is not always about I’m right and you’re wrong.” Jessica Strangio
- “Pacifica Congress was all about supporting families through the dispute resolution process and sharing the knowledge with other practitioners being lawyers and social scientist practitioners… and help families by sharing that knowledge.” Stephanie Azzi
- “how can we best support an expert during cross examination so they can give us the best evidence and information the court needs?” Stephanie Azzi
- Value of interdisciplinary discussion (across disciplines)
- Safe spaces for informal discussion: the role of coffee in law as a pressure valve and informal conversations
- Key highlights of the conference – single experts
- Value of hearing practices in other states (across states/ geography)
- Input and amount of time to prepare a Family Report
- Understanding at the Conference how does an expert get from A to B to Z. Why is it they think what they think?
- No regulating body for family court reporting experts. Also, when they study there is no family law subjects.
- Shortage of experts. Would having a set criteria or regulating body would that allow more new experts into the area?
- In Tasmania Judges tend to meet with children. Different approaches across the states.
- Proactive approaches we can take at a grass roots level (i.e. not all changes being at the level of legislation, but at the level of what we can seek day to day i.e thinking more creatively about Orders to seek from the Court if suitable).
- Collegiality and connecting with colleagues. How the lawyers having a rapport can actually assist clients -being able to cut through issues more efficiently. This can also save money for the client.
- “things can happen at the level of a gesture” (Zoe) – sometimes it is about being able to pick up the phone and be able to call the other practitioner and resolve it on a practical level.
- Coffee cart (sponsored by Raftons) is a core metaphor for dialogue, informal discussion and rapport between colleagues.
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Dr Simon Kennedy – “A more nuanced approach”, structured professional judgment in Family Reports
Dr Simon Kennedy https://www.psychologycamberwell.com/dr-simon-kennedy
At the Pacifica Congress Conference live in Hobart 2023 www.pacificacongress.org
The Inside Family Law Podcast is hosted by Zoe Durand at Mediation Answers www.mediationanswers.com.au in partnership with Lawyer Magic and ArtWork.
- From assessment to inference. The difficult part of reports is making recommendations.
- Making recommendations is a quantum leap.
- 22 major factors from literature and clinical practice that are central to making recommendations
- Assessing in structured professional judgment what the factors are.
- Factors may include age, attachment relationship, family dysfunction, disability of a child, practical factors (such as travel distance), communication between the parents etc.
- Weight the factors.
- Each family is slightly different.
- Movement away from formulaic recommendations. I.e. “under age 4, x nights per fortnight etc”.
- Need to assess the family and children’s needs.
- Structured professional judgment to guide assessment and decision making.
- Nuanced approach that addresses a matrix of factors
- Benefits of children spending time with both parents
- One of the major controversies is age. We also need to take into account all the factors.
- Changes in family law over time: role of fathers has evolved.
- Covid has led to flexible work arrangements and changes in parenting arrangements.
- Benefit to children of both parents sharing their care.
- Current problems: children on devices
- Review of family reports
- Shortage of therapeutic treatment
- Protection for practitioners in family law (lack of enough family report writers).
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
- Film, the Fort. Using the arts as messaging. Education, prevention and disruption.
- Voice of Change.
- Film shows coercive control and different types of violence.
- What can I do to facilitate change?
- What is an active bystander?
- “How can I help? What can I do?”
- Calling out behaviours.
- Shame associated with family violence.
- Ripple effect once we call out behaviour.
- What is family violence?
- Family violence in covid including in cases where English is a second language
- Lack of empathy.
- Comments in the workplace.
- Muscle memory. Tools to call out the behaviour.
- Contact Voice of Change for access to the film “The Fort”.
- Workplaces, changes in sports, education, corporate
- Victim shaming.
- Private vs public sphere. If is all connected, different spheres of influence.
- Hearing a message multiple times over time.
- Statistics on deaths due to family violence.
- Film “India’s daughter” – “if someone finds a diamond on the road of course they are going to pick it up”.
- Think equal curriculum – teaching children empathy (3-4 year olds).
- The education we have on how to pick a partner “you have Disney, fairytales and porn” to guide you from childhood as to how to pick a healthy relationship.
- Respectful relationships, Consent education in school.
- Porn – strangulation in porn. Children have access to porn via devices. “No one wants to talk about porn and no one wants to talk about sexual relationships.” (That’s why we are keeping it in the podcast!). Sex and violence.
- Consent and influence of porn – difficulty as teenagers feeling they have to give the consent to strangulation.
- Having hard conversations.
- Bystander VS active bystander.
- Possible changes to the law re family violence.
- National definition of family violence.
- Consequences for patterns of behaviour.
- We live in a strange age of “Stone age emotions, medieval beliefs, god like technology many people can reach”.
- It’s the simple things.
- There are things we can do. We need the words.
Shaynna Blaze (www.shaynnablaze.com)
Sally Nicholes (www.nicholeslaw.com.au)
Voice of change www.voiceofchangeau.org
You can access the film “The Fort” via Voice of change
At the Pacifica Congress Conference live in Hobart 2023 www.pacificacongress.org
The Inside Family Law Podcast is hosted by Zoe Durand at Mediation Answers www.mediationanswers.com.au in partnership with Lawyer Magic and ArtWork.
Monday Jun 01, 2020
Monday Jun 01, 2020
“in control to steer outcomes”, An interview with Elise McSweeny from SplitWorld
- What is SplitWorld?
- What is the purpose of SplitWorld?
- Discussion of modules. Property and assets module, parenting module, and documenting agreement.
- How the algorithm for the financial calculator (property) was developed.
- Idea that “The process depletes the resources” of the family and SplitWorld’s intention to be a self empowered process.
- Intention to assist parties to collaborate.
- DIY Divorce tool kit to save time, emotion and money.
- Not all matters are appropriate for this process.
- Different ways to use SplitWorld.
- Parenting plan module and education resources about how to best support children through separation via blog and direct mail.
- Future trends for SplitWorld ”there is a drive to disrupt the system”.
- Human element in determining justice and equity and how this works with an algorithm (financial calculator).
- “At a higher level, where does justice and equity exist? In this process the justice and equity exists inside the perspective of the two people navigating the divorce… The sense and the feeling of justice and equity comes from me if I am going through the process and I arrive at the end of it and I feel justice has been met."
- “The justice and equity exists within them.”
- “We want to stand in the possibility that separation can be amicable and that each partner can choose this and that if people choose this…then they are immediately in control to steer outcomes in alignment with this choice.”
- The parties can collaborate together. They can modify what the financial calculator says, i.e do not have to agree with the financial calculator outcome, but use it as a guide only.
- In collating the information for the financial calculator parties think in a practical way about how their future lives will work. The process of collating the data for the financial calculator can in and of itself be useful.
- Retaining resources – time, energy, money inside the family unit as “invaluable.”
- Future of SplitWorld.
Sunday Apr 05, 2020
Sunday Apr 05, 2020
Hayder Shkara (principal at Justice Family Lawyers) and Zoë Durand discuss:
- Lockdown – parenting during a lockdown
- School holidays have moved forward in Victoria – school holiday time changes to family law.
- Follow the orders to the best of your ability. Try to communicate if possible (via lawyer or directly).
- Changeover and also other safety issues. I.e one parents' residence vs the other parents' residence. Safety issues during Coronavirus. “Reasonable excuse” to contravene orders and what constitutes this.
- Panic affecting decision making.
- Family violence. Court continuing, however processes are modified i.e. use of telephone and other electronic communication.
- Family law firms and mediation continuing via technology.
- Changes to the types of matters during Coronavirus.
- Difficulty separating during Coronavirus.
- Tensions as families live and work together in constant close contact.
- Property matters and Coronavirus i.e. reduced value of shares and superannuation and how this is affecting family law matters.
- Court – doing the best job they can during this time.
- The online world is now the “real” world. Changes in work practices.
- "The real world is not the real world."
- Court now allowing subpoenas to be filed online.
- Some practices may remain after Coronavirus – new work climate coming out of this.
- WFHLife i.e Working from home life and how to stay active at home (from a former Olympic athlete). Mental and physical health.
- “Use it as an opportunity to try something different.”
- Reaching Hayder at Justice Family Lawyers on google.
Monday Mar 30, 2020
New ways of doing old problems: family law in the time of Coronavirus
Monday Mar 30, 2020
Monday Mar 30, 2020
New ways of doing old problems: family law in the time of Coronavirus
Paul Doolan (Partner at Barkus Doolan) and Zoe Durand discuss:
- Parenting - compliance with orders due to coronavirus and health conditions.
- Commonsense and making decisions in best interests of children.
- Property issues, loss of value of assets and loss of income.
- Impaired ability to pay child support, spouse maintenance.
- How s75(2) factors may be affected.
- Unique circumstance of loss on value of assets and earning capacity (unlike past economic recessions).
- Difficulty for people resolving disputes at the moment.
- Sense of community in family law during Coronavirus.
- Changes in the Court and increased use of technology during Coronavirus.
- Practical issues for lawyers i.e. signing up affidavits etc, deposing of documents, getting both parties to sign the same document, changes re tendering documents.
- Lack of supervisors to supervise time.
- Long term changes that may persist after Coronavirus.
- Family Violence - UK example.
- Potential family law reform.
- Merger of Courts.
- Paul's comments on Senator Pauline Hanson and her views.
- Paul Doolan's own personal views about family law reform.
- Legal Aid and false economy of cutting funding to Legal Aid.
- Wider question of "Who are we these reforms for? Where should the law reform be targeted?"
Sunday Feb 23, 2020
“A measure of pushback” with Jacqui Dawson (Sexton Family Law)
Sunday Feb 23, 2020
Sunday Feb 23, 2020
“A measure of pushback” with Jacqui Dawson (Sexton Family Law)
- How to empower people going through the process.
- What information to prepare for your lawyer: in parenting and property matters. Checking facts and details in a one page summary.
- Be completely frank with your lawyer.
- Pre-sorting financial disclosure for your lawyer to save legal fees.
- Being clear about objectives and seeking assistance from other professionals.
- Cues that you have the right/ wrong lawyer for you. Trusting your lawyer. Is your lawyer over promising?
- Time frames and communication.
- Expertise of lawyers, accreditation.
- Is your lawyer objective and calm.
- “One of the worst things we can do as a lawyer is get on board with our clients’ emotional distress.” Be wary of correspondence that is unnecessarily emotive and lengthy.
- Lawyers that are too aligned with client are doing the client a disservice.
- A good lawyer will offer a measure of pushback. “Toxic can come in all different ways.”
- Every case is different. Beware of the advice from friends, neighbours and google. Your fact situation is different to others.
- Adapt as you go along.
- Listen to your lawyer – delays are difficult and lawyers understand this is a problem.
Find Jacqui Dawson at Sexton Family Law.
https://sextonfamilylaw.com.au/index.php/portfolio/about-us-2/
Sunday Feb 23, 2020
Hiatus
Sunday Feb 23, 2020
Sunday Feb 23, 2020
Sorry to have been away from the podcast for so long. Life got in the way! I hope it was worth the wait.
Come along to the UNSW family law intensive https://www.edge.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/2019-11/Family%20Law%20Intensive%20Program.pdf where I will be chairing the day.
Friday Jan 10, 2020
Friday Jan 10, 2020
Anne-Marie Cade (Divorce coach) - Between then and now: moving clients from the story of divorce to the business of divorce.
- What is peaceful divorce?
- What is the coaching process in practicality. In terms of timing, people can be helped at any stage of the process.
- Lawyer as entry point into seeking out other services.
- Retelling of negative narratives via divorce process.
- Emotional blind spots and fear.
- "As a coach I am trained to walk the path with the client."
- How coaching can help clients become more self aware. Dialing down emotions.
- Difference between therapy and divorce coaching.
- Helping clients with the divorce process. “Being an objective thinking partner”.
- History of the role of divorce coaching. In the USA and UK and now Australia.
- Parenting coordination.
- Difference between support from friends and support from coach. Coach as an “accountability buddy.” Helpful objective thinking partner to assist them. Friends who mean well but can be destructive to the process. "Each person’s experience is unique. When it comes to your divorce you need to put certain people on a shelf."
- How divorce coaching can help the lawyer-client relationship. Coaching helping clients better understand their lawyer.
Find Anne-Marie Cade at https://www.divorceright.com.au/author/admin/
Friday Nov 08, 2019
Friday Nov 08, 2019
- History of Rachel Brace’s career
- Reason for creating Max’s Divorce Earthquake
- How this book helps normalise the separation and helps children verbalise their feelings about their parents’ separation and encourage conversation between children and parents about the separation.
- How Max’s Divorce Earthquake can also help parents – helping parents to support their children.
- There is no right or wrong way to feel. There are no “bad” or shameful feelings. Feelings will pass. Feelings and emotions are temporary states, not permanent traits.
- Having mixed feelings about divorce.
- Tips for parents who are separating.
- Really listen to children – even if it is difficult to hear what they are saying.
- Try not to project your own feelings onto children.
- Children have their own unique self and personhood. Zoe refers to “your children come through you, but are not of you” from Kahil Gibran
- Upcoming project: a book on blended families and having step parents and steps siblings.
Or reach Rachel through the Relationspace
Max's Divorce Earthquake Illustrated by Angela Perrini and written by Rachel Brace.