Family
Family and divorce is very much a people- focused area of law. Family and divorce lawyers deal with diverse legal issues including marriage, civil partnerships and unmarried couples, cohabitation, separation, divorce, financial claims and the now common pre and post-nuptial/ civil partnership agreements. Work on matters relating to children also form a big part of a family lawyer’s daily caseload. Family and divorce lawyers are often litigators, but also negotiate out-of-court settlements. Family law cases often grab the media headlines, particularly when they involve people with high wealth or high-profile personalities. While the role of a family lawyer calls for an astute legal mind, strong communication and pastoral skills are also needed to support clients through often difficult times. After studying a degree in social sciences, Jamie Kennaugh realised that a career in family law was the right path for her as she was looking for a job that was structured, complex and would involve client contact. As soon as she left university, she completed a vacation scheme at Charles Russell Speechlys and afterwards secured a sought- after training contract there. She joined the firm as a trainee in 2007 and in 2018 was promoted to partner: “I’ve been at Charles Russell Speechlys throughout my career,” Jamie says, “and I’ve done nothing but matrimonial law since I qualified. The work is so varied that I haven’t felt like I need to look for something else or change what I’m doing. I love it”. Fallout and planning for the future The family law team at Charles Russell Speechlys focuses on private family law, particularly children, divorce and financial matters: “We deal with the fallout from matrimonial and family situations, such as financial settlements on divorce and children arrangements,” Jamie explains. But she also
helps clients to plan for the future, including negotiating pre-nuptial and cohabitation agreements. The positive impact Jamie can make on the lives of her clients is the highlight of the job for her: “There are situations where parents who should be seeing their children aren’t seeing their children and helping them to achieve that is the most rewarding aspect and makes it all worthwhile.” The variety of the work is what first drew Jamie into family law: “I knew I wanted client contact in my job – I wanted to be involved and working with clients every day, I didn’t want to be just working on documents and sitting behind a computer. So family and matrimonial law is brilliant for that – you’re doing written and analytical work, but you’re also spending lots of time with clients so it’s a really good balance. There’s never a boring day!” Jamie’s caseload can be anywhere between 20 to 30 clients “and you never know when something’s going to take a turn, so there’s a lot of multitasking involved each day”. A typical day might involve “meeting with clients in person, speaking to clients on the phone and advising on their day-to-day issues – as well as advising on the wider strategies of the case at hand”. Solicitors may also be in court for cases that are litigating, so “you’re meeting with barristers to discuss the case, working out how to move forward and talking about settlement options”. In order to do your job well you need to be objective – you need to be able to stand back, give good advice and not run yourself down
The work of a family solicitor also involves written work, including “corresponding
For more firms that work in this practice area, please use the “Training contract regional indexes” starting on p205.
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