Phase One

First steps

Initial contact

The first step of your family law journey with us is the information gathering stage. Before we meet with you, we may invite you to complete (via an online form) an intake form with relevant information. This allows you to:

provide details of your circumstances in a quick, easy and secure way
save on time and costs
choose how much detail you’d like to provide.

First meeting

Our initial consultation will last approximately one hour. This is your opportunity to:

ask specific questions so that we can better understand your legal issues and how we can assist you
receive advice about your rights, responsibilities and entitlements and agree on next steps.

You will learn about the following family law principles, should they be relevant to your circumstances:

Financial matters

Whether a property settlement with your former partner is necessary
How your assets and liabilities will be identified and valued
How the contributions of each party are assessed
How your future financial needs may affect your entitlement to a property settlement
Whether any proposed settlement is likely to be accepted as just and equitable.

Parenting matters
The factors considered by the court when making orders relating to children include the following.

The “primary considerations” of the court, including the benefit to your child in having a meaningful relationship with each of their parents and the need to protect them from family violence
“Additional considerations”, which include your child or children’s relationship with you and your spouse; their age, maturity and background.

Family violence
Family violence includes physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, and financial abuse as well as threatening, controlling and coercive behaviour. A family violence order can help protect those affected by family violence and those who are at risk, including children. We help clients apply for family violence orders and arrange for their representation at court hearings. We also assist individuals who seek to oppose family violence orders.

Family violence hearings take place in the Local Court or Magistrates’ Court, not the Family Court. However, the proceedings are relevant to any family law litigation and are taken into consideration by the family courts when determining parenting, and sometimes property, matters.

Given the impact of family violence on family law matters, it is important that any historical or current family violence issues are conveyed to your lawyer at the initial conference.

Your legal costs

At Lander & Rogers, we are upfront about costs at the outset. We provide ongoing cost updates and estimates to our clients, which means you can make informed and strategic decisions at each stage of your matter.

As the largest family law firm in Australia, our resources mean that we can match each client with a suitable lawyer based on the complexity of the matter, the financial position of the client, and the level of expertise a matter will require. Our costs are comparable to boutique family law firms; however, our clients benefit from our firm’s reputation and our long-standing relationships with the family law profession. We are consistently recognised by our peers as leading family lawyers and have the highest number of accredited family law specialists of all firms in Australia.

Our lawyers’ hourly rates are based on the breadth and depth of their experience.

We have a comprehensive, structured supervision and mentoring model which means that all of our lawyers have a supervising partner or special counsel looking after each client. Partners and special counsel make strategic decisions, and settle and approve any work before it is released. As a client, you therefore have the benefit of a lower charge-out rate with the experience and supervision of one of the most experienced family lawyers in Australia. We also appreciate that this model may not be for everyone, and we are more than happy to tailor our clients’ experience and our service offering based on your preference.

We also offer a fixed priced solution for the following services, which vary based on office location:

Divorce: $2,200 to $2,800
Applications for consent orders: $5,500 to $8,800
Prenuptial financial agreements $7,700 to $12,650

Our fixed price offering provides our clients with certainty and transparency about the costs of the matter, which are agreed upfront.

Every matter is different, and there are factors that can increase legal costs for clients, including the attitude adopted by the parties, the complexity of the issues in the case, court delays and the engagement of third parties such as expert witnesses or valuers. When we first meet with our clients, we typically provide an estimate of legal spend for three different scenarios: if you were to reach a negotiated settlement with your partner; if you were required to attend a mediation, and if your matter was to proceed to court. This provides our clients with an understanding of their estimated legal costs and settlement options from the start.

We pride ourselves on our openness about costs, so please do not hesitate to contact one of our lawyers for further information about our fee model.

Costs agreement

Shortly after your first consultation, you will receive a costs agreement from us. This will outline our anticipated legal costs if:

you and the other party come to an agreement
you and the other party settle at mediation
your matter proceeds to court.

Additional support

Separation can be one of the most challenging times in a person’s life and can impact them in many ways. Our aim is to assist you to navigate your way through this family separation journey so you can live your life and plan for your and your children’s future. While we pride ourselves as expert family lawyers, it is important that our clients are supported by a network of other professionals to guide them through their family law journey. With over 35 years in practice, we have developed close working relationships with mental health and financial experts throughout Australia, with whom we regularly connect our clients.

If you or your family would like a referral to a psychologist, counsellor, accountant or financial advisor, please ensure you request this of your lawyer, at any stage of your engagement with us.

Your options

At this stage in the process, you will have been presented with your options, and it’s time to decide how you’d like to proceed with your matter. Broadly, your options are:

negotiation (direct or lawyer-assisted)
mediation/arbitration
court.

Except in limited circumstances, for example matters of urgency or those involving family violence, you will need to proceed through negotiation and mediation to demonstrate that you’ve made a genuine effort to resolve your dispute, before going to court.

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> Click here to move to phase two: Dispute resolution

> Click here to move to phase three: Pre-action procedures

> Click here to move to phase four: Preparation for court

> Click here to move to phase five: Implementation

> Click here to view more about Disclosure

> Click here to view more about binding financial agreements