Gregorian Emerson Family Law Solicitors understand how to reduce the significant distress resulting from family breakdown and litigation.
1. Whilst not offering our clients individual or family therapy (many of the emotions, such as anxiety, upset and loss are completely normal in any event), through the formulation and implementation of our agreed strategies, based on an enhanced understanding of a client’s case, our clients become far more empowered and suffer less distress whilst instructing us.
2. This is achieved by ensuring that clients receive a thorough and objective understanding of the reasons for their family breakdown and how this information can be best applied either to reach agreement or communicated in their litigation.
3. This is in contrast to the increased stress which clients report their family lawyer frequently creates, over and above the natural worry, upset and fear that emanates from family breakdown due to their solicitor:
(a) adopting a “top-down”, “we know best attitude” attitude which, often, focuses upon predictions of the outcome of the client’s case in order to seek to convince the client they are in control of it.
For a number of reasons, predictions of family law outcomes, based only on legal analysis, are virtually worthless. Family law judgements are completely inconsistent, incongruent, and very rarely based on any legal precedent. Rather, they are invariably based on a superficial analysis of or a complete misunderstanding of the client’s case, because the family dispute or parental concerns have very little, if anything, to do with a legal framework (even if you are fortunate enough to have a judge with any formal legal training at all).
Of course, common sense dictates that particular circumstances may be helpful or unhelpful to a client’s case (the opposition is aware of that fact and also have their own equal and opposite strengths and weaknesses). However, from my experience and, logically, family law is the embodiment of formulating opinions regarding parents or former partners/spouses and then undertaking an exercise in confirmation bias i.e. minimising facts unhelpful to that opinion and maximising facts which are helpful to that opinion. Doing so is simple human nature i.e. no one likes to be proved wrong and when one formulates an opinion, one selectively identifies facts which support it. This is why given the “right case” domestic abuse, NPD, or emotional abuse to the children is completely ignored by the courts and their officers. Given the “wrong case”, a mother’s wish to avoid the upset and uncertainty of dealing with her abusive husband is interpreted as her wish to alienate the child from the father. It really is an Alice in Wonderland existence because, after all, every argument has two sides and without having a requisite understanding of the fundamentally important non-legal skill sets such as personalities, psychology of the individuals and of the dispute, clinical mental health and communication and conflict resolution skills, only a superficial analysis can be reached.
These stereotypes and superficial analysis are completely unacceptable to us and are acknowledged and factored into the unique strategies formulated and implemented for each client through the joint legal and psychological approach.
(b) being unable to be contacted when they need advice or support, particularly outside of the client's working hours, when contact with the children may be happening or they have time to focus upon their personal circumstances. Gregorian Emerson Family Law Solicitors bring their commercial law levels of service to family law clients so that we can be contacted 24/7. Whether it is to discuss a client’s case, or to reinforce understanding of the reasons for the breakdown in the relationship or the effect on them and/or the children, we can be contacted because we have been there and appreciate how isolating and upsetting engaging with the family justice system can be.
4. Richard Gregorian is not only an experienced professional with high levels of empathy as individual but is also a loving parent and, previously, a user of the family justice system. Clients have an extremely close and trusting relationship with him as evident from the Testimonials. In any litigation involving the interests of the children, he treats the client’s children with as much passion as he does his own. This is particularly important where the family justice system is full of challenges due to its lack of necessary skill sets, commitment and empathy towards families and their children. At all times, he will be completely focused on achieving the right result for the client.
5. We have found that, in the latter phases of litigation, some clients benefit from support specifically aimed at assisting them to express themselves in the best possible light in the witness box or to Cafcass, social services or a court-appointed expert. This is particularly important where the case involves the future of children or psychiatric/psychological issues. We ensure that our clients have the support and confidence to express their case in an articulate, insightful and, where relevant, child-centric way in the witness box.
Contact Gregorian Emerson Family Law Solicitors
If you have a family dispute that needs resolving, we are here to help and look forward to your call. Please contact us, or call us on 01483 826 470.