The Third and Final Week

11/24/2010 8:31:56 AM #

I am loving the practical tips- I have a property matter concerning the need for an urgent injunction and from a few lines in a practical hint, I was altered to some really good practical issues to consider. This was an issue I didn't come across in my research with the less practical and more 'academic' services available. This assisted me in advice to the client and I felt we were more prepared as a result.

I was then able use the precedent Order in my drafting of the application- so the practical guidance was a one stop shop in this matter...  

Kimberly Buttriss | Reply

11/24/2010 2:49:44 PM #

I have recently had a situation whereby a client whom we were acting for in Federal Magistrates Court proceedings for a property settlement withdrew his instructions and advised that we no longer held instructions to act.

At the time we were advised of this, the timetable was running and time was of the essence in complying with Orders. As the client (former) had simply requested that his files be sent to him personally I could only assume that he did not have new legal representation. Due to this, I had a concern that the other parties (of which there are four) and the Court should be notified as soon as possible that we no longer acted for this person in these proceedings.

I searched the practical guidance to confirm what my obligations were in this situation. I note that the only information I could find was the Family Law Rules and in particular rule 8.04. Upon consultation with my colleagues, we made telephone contact with the other legal representatives to ensure they were aware of the situation.

Some further guidance in these circumstances may have been of assistance as the Family Law Rules appear to deal only with the situation where the legal representative is terminating the retainer. I would suggest that further commentary of procedural issues such as this may be of assistance.

Sarah Osborn | Reply

11/25/2010 9:15:49 AM #

Another week of firsts, I was allocated a matter listed for an LAT. Logged onto the practical guidance for some assistance, as I was reading Justin's commentary I went through the file to find if a parenting questionairre had been completed and could not find it. Thanks to the practical guidance I was able to get the client to complete the questionairre prior to appearing in court. Much to my disappointment the matter was adjourned...and not because we failed to comply with the 28 day filing direction.

Arti Deo | Reply

11/25/2010 9:57:51 AM #

Even though I have been praticising in the area of Family Law for some time, there is sometimes a tendency to "get lazy" and prepare documents on auto pilot. I had to this morning draft an Initiating Application seeking parenting Orders and rather then just doing this on "auto pilot" I took the time to read through the overview of parenting matters which I found very helpful and had reference to the "checklist" when drafting parenting orders which clearly set out the matters that should be remembered - I found it very helpful.

Vanessa Jackson | Reply

11/25/2010 6:44:40 PM #

I have been reading through the section on appeals. The overview on the 'types of appeals' by Justin appears to be unfinished or missing information.

There are no case references and the page simply reads 'see.  .' where a case reference would ordinarily be.  Perhaps this needs to be looked at?

Kimberly Buttriss | Reply

11/26/2010 3:05:48 PM #

Further on from the comments posted by Sarah, I agree that it may be of assistance if there was a section added or included about procedural matters. I am before a Judge for the first day of a property hearing on Wednesday and I looked up the practical guidance to see if there was any information on this  - I could not locate anything. It would be useful if there was soemthing included about what generally happens on the first day of the hearing, and whilst all judicial officers deal with matters differently, there should be some "common ground" which could be included to assist a practitioner in their preparation for this, for example, what should be prepared and what questions may be asked. This would be particularly useful for practitioners new to family law who appear on matters without the assistance of Counsel.

In general, and given this is my last blog, I think that the practical guidance is excellent!

Vanessa Jackson | Reply

11/26/2010 3:11:55 PM #

I was very pleased today to have a situation where in discussion with a client about an unrelated matter she queried me about a procedure in her divorce matter and I was able to quickly log on to practical guidance on my ipad and confirm with her the procedure.

Sarah Osborn | Reply

11/26/2010 4:36:36 PM #

I spent some time going through the topics in the practical guidance, I like the way the headings are set out for each topic and then specific subheadings under each topic. I would find it useful if the relationships heading was replaced with one heading titled marriage property settlement and one titled defacto property settlement and then the relevant information, sections and cases listed under each.

Arti Deo | Reply

11/28/2010 5:19:35 PM #

I had the other party's solicitors in a property matter making reference to the pre action rules. I was waiting for a mention in court and was using the iPad to read what's on offer in the prac guidance. I had a look at the commentary on the rules which were very good. I then went back to the office and dictated letter to other party's solicitors using the info in the pac guidance to put the other party's solicitors back in their box.  

Jim halliday | Reply

11/28/2010 5:46:00 PM #

I was drafting a finical agreement late this week and I used the Prac guidance just to have a look at the commentary on the act. The way that it is set out is helpful, with appropriate headings which    Helped me to find what I was looking for. I didn't take me long to have a quick scan over some of the other sections which weren't relevant but were good to read to refresh my memory.

Jim halliday | Reply

11/28/2010 7:35:24 PM #

I needed to find and Binding Child Support Agreement. I had some difficulty searching for the documents by its headings using Forms and Precedents.  Once i searched on the home page however the precedent came up immediately.  The commentary on this section was also very helpful as the differences between a limited Child Support Agreement and a Binding Child Support Agreement were highlighted clearly.  The precedent provided was very detailed.

Kathy Matri | Reply