It’s client centric lawyering that gets results, not big egos By Rose Cocchiaro

It’s client centric lawyering that gets results, not big egos

ROSE COCCHIARO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, RESOLVE DIVORCE

When I started my family law firm, Resolve Divorce, almost six years ago, I was motivated by two factors: one, to serve the community in a client-centric way that provides transformative experiences; and two, to challenge traditional lawyering, particularly as it relates to servicing clients, and influencing the legal community, demonstrating that doing law differently can achieve success.

Resolve Divorce is now a thriving and successful business. It is having an impact on the community in a big way. We are achieving success; stemming from being client centric, humanising the law, and making it about the clients and not our own egos.

I now want to be louder. My goal is to influence other lawyers, inspiring them to maximise the positive impact that they can have on the community and holding them accountable to the role they play in fuelling the conflict between parties to a dispute. We should be a profession that is client and outcome focused, motivated and determined to achieve success for our clients and ourselves.

I argue that focusing on client centric legal practices and bringing a human element to each client’s legal experience achieves better outcomes. It is our job as lawyers to help our clients understand legal concepts, think deeply about the financial and emotional impact of the dispute and guide them to consider various options and be openminded about negotiating outcomes in creative dispute resolution forums, to help them reach settlements.

In my experience, modern day clients want and need an environment where it’s a two-way street; where the client can be involved in the process and the negotiation, and have some control over how their matter is run and what outcomes they want to achieve. The skill is being able to toe the fine line to manage your client’s expectations and reality check your client around the reality of the legal outcomes compared to what their goals are.

Behind every dispute, conflict has occurred because of a human interaction and something that’s gone wrong between people. It’s about understanding and responding to human emotion and demonstrating authentic empathy. That is what makes you a standout lawyer.

At Resolve Divorce, the lawyers consider their responsibility to be beyond the legal advice, approaching assisting clients in a more holistic way. We offer a wellbeing program and get our clients prepared for the process through a series of steps designed to ensure they achieve their best outcome, whatever that means for them.

A recent client came to us describing herself as a “broken woman”. We spent time with her mapping out her goals and preparing her for her future, supporting her to evaluate what she wanted for her life post-divorce. She was well prepared for the negotiation. We assisted her to build a strong support network around her, which included a money coach and a divorce coach. Our client achieved financial empowerment by setting clear financial goals, better understanding her relationship with money, and detailed budgeting. She was also emotionally supported by the divorce coach, and able to overcome any roadblocks she met throughout the negotiation.

Through her support network, she learned ways to communicate better and to work through her grief. The negotiation, controlled by her, was focused on understanding her goals, needs and worries. She was able to achieve a positive outcome, in a minimally invasive forum, because she was informed by our advice, empowered by her support network, and had clear goals to work toward. At the meetings, the parties discussed the real issues that mattered, reaching an agreement that met both of their goals, whilst still achieving their legal rights and

entitlements. It was mutually beneficial to both parties. Our client achieved her “best outcome”, a sound legal outcome with her wellbeing in check, giving her confidence about her future. Importantly, our lawyers felt valued and enjoyed the process too.

This to me is success, one family at a time. But success has come in other forms too, our network of referrers believes in our innovative dispute resolution techniques because they want to offer their clients something different and support their client to stay supported. This supports us to continue to grow. We have been named in the Top 25 list of Fastest Movers in SA (BDO awards) for the last two years in a row, and Resolve Divorce and our staff are multi-award winners and finalists year after year in the National Lawyers Weekly awards as well as the Telstra Business awards and annually recognised in the Doyle’s guide for being a leading family law firm. Our firm has more than doubled in staff over the last 12 months, because of lawyers seeking out a firm that better reflects their values and preferred way of working, as well as the demand from clients for our representation. Business is thriving because we have satisfied clients that tell their friends, their referrer and their community. This leads to repeat work and an ever-growing number of networks developing because people want to be a part of something good.

I challenge all lawyers to reflect on your practice and whether it is achieving for you, your authentic life; where you can truly enjoy the work that you do; where you are supported to explore your reason for being lawyers and supported to practice law in a way that fits with your values.

Be human; dig deep into your heart and remember what it was that made you want to become a lawyer in the first place. If it is because you had a deep need to help and support people and make a difference to people’s lives, then make sure you are authentically living that. I challenge you to be brave, change the norm and practice modern and responsible human lawyering. Together we can change the way the profession is practicing law and impact the community in a meaningful way into the future and success in all its forms, will follow. B