One Couple One Lawyer

Save money, save your sanity and get through divorce relatively unscathed

Historically, our adversarial Divorce system doesn’t benefit the people getting Divorced, but the lawyers involved. With this scenario, who is racking up huge fees? And who is having a hard time sleeping thanks to stress and overwhelm?

This is not – and has never been – my style. Instead, I pride myself on always looking for the most cost effective and least damaging solution to every problem.

That’s why I am proud to offer One Couple One Lawyer services: impartial advice from an expert Family Lawyer aimed at helping my client, not helping me buy a new holiday home.  One Couple One Lawyer has been common practice in Europe for years as it’s quicker, much more cost-effective and leads to less conflict than the traditional approach.

This constructive service is suitable for couples whether you’re considering separation or are involved in divorce litigation already.

The many benefits of One Couple One Lawyer

If you don’t try One Couple One Lawyer, you could end up with a Judge’s decision that neither of you like, because your individual Solicitors will advise to do the best for you financially which can be very unfair on one party and supremely expensive too.

With One Couple One Lawyer:

• You are far more likely to reach a mutually acceptable settlement
• There’s no risk of lengthy and expensive litigation
• There’s a huge saving cost-wise
• You avoid the stress of a draining, arduous and emotionally exhausting divorce process
• You’ll have the entire process concluded within 2 months, compared to 14 months for the average litigious divorce
• You will emerge from the process with a settlement you can both live with, so you can move on with your lives
• Your experience will be calmer and more pleasant for you, your children and your wider families

What’s more, work with me and not only will my fees be capped at £300 per hour (+VAT) but you’ll also deal with me – and just me – throughout. No juniors doing the work while I sit on a beach somewhere….

Financial disclosure

If you wish to go ahead, I ’ll help you gather together all necessary financial information.  Instead of the non-user-friendly FORM E, which is normally used in divorce cases, I will use the excellent Financial Disclosure booklets which are prepared by my regulator, the Family Mediators Association.

Second conference

Once we’ve been through the financial disclosure process, I’ll organise a second conference.  This is with you two and me, or another lawyer if you prefer.  This conference is confidential, and usually lasts between two to three hours. 

During the conference we touch on the following issues where relevant:

• Income and capital
• Property acquired before marriage
• Pre or post nuptial agreements
• Assets including your home(s), business(es), shares and pensions
• Children
• Foreign assets
• Any matters of jurisdiction

All my experience teaches me that the earlier you can reach agreement the easier it will be-this can save legal costs and minimise bitterness – both of which will help your family move on.

Written advice

After the second Conference you will receive detailed written advice – around 15 to 20 pages of A4 – about what I or the other lawyer think a judge would consider fair in your circumstances.

I will consider relevant law and past cases, as well as using my experience from taking cases to every Family Law Court in London.

At this stage, you and your spouse will still be able to:

• take independent legal advice from say a Barrister under Direct Access
• pursue mediation
• pursue another form of ADR such as Family Arbitration

However, I will ask you to suspend any ongoing court proceedings, to reduce conflict and costs.

Consent Order

Once settlement is reached then I will prepare the appropriate Consent Order to be submitted to local family court for approval. This costs £400 per person (+ VAT) and is legally binding.