As a successful family law specialist, you not only want to deliver wins for your clients, you want them to come through the experience with their head held high and their values honoured.
You want them to come through it with a new level of trust for you – for them and their loved ones to call on you for their next legal challenge.
But juggling the needs of your clients with those of your nearest and dearest isn’t easy either.
Weekend sports, music recitals, contributing when you can to sporting clubs and schools are all important too. After all, this is the number one reason we work so hard – to give our families the life, and the time that they deserve.
As we fill our lives with more of the things that matter most, something has to give. But it won’t be family. That’s a given.
You haven’t come this far by neglecting your clients either.
In fact your love for family has a lot to do with your love for family law.
So to keep you serving the clients you love without it robbing you of your precious family time, anything that slows you down has to be delegated or eliminated.
We all have things we’ve tolerated or worked around for far too long.
There comes a point when anything in your process that interferes with your mission to serve your clients efficiently and effectively – needs to change.
Refining your process, and in some cases your team, is what will ultimately deliver faster wins, and increase your financial effectiveness, for you and your loved ones.
From over 45 years working with family law specialists we’ve noticed a few key differences between successful family lawyers and the “also-rans”, especially in cases where a valuer is involved.
Firstly, it’s important the valuer is experienced enough to provide a thorough, independent and persuasive valuation report that complies with Part 15.5 of the Family Law Rules 2004.
A valuer with a thorough understanding of their obligations as a Single Joint Expert or Shadow Expert, and the level of reporting required to demonstrate this, works efficiently to provide a timely, accurate and compliant report the first time, to avoid costly and time-consuming errors or omissions, such as leaving out a statement of acceptance of these rules in their report.
Secondly, there should be no room for the expert valuer to be discredited. It is vitally important that every fact be verified against various sources. Examples of errors in fact often include mismeasurement and calculation of land and building areas of the subject property and the comparable market evidence used. In commercial valuations, errors in the interpretation of key lease clauses such as “make-good” clauses and repair and maintenance clauses that require adjustments against comparables, can often be overlooked. Discrediting of a cheap valuation can cost clients a great deal in lost time, additional expense and unnecessary anguish.
Thirdly, having the valuer provide you with a complete list of information required for the valuation prior to instruction can save a lot of time.
Without that, you could be at the mercy of drawn out requests for information and constant back and forth throughout a prolonged frustrating period waiting for the valuation to be finalised.
An organised valuer, with your interests at heart, will provide a concise list of all items required for you to simply provide to your client, to enable a quick commencement and a timely completion.
An experienced, professional, expert witness valuer understands the pressures a successful family law specialist faces and overcomes every day, and works to provide a compliant, accurate and uncompromisingly well supported valuation, quickly and efficiently – for your client’s and your benefit.
