Why choose family law?

As a graduate undertaking the GDL, I was lucky enough to secure a part-time paralegal position at Barratt and Thomson Solicitors in Berkshire. The firm predominately focused on family law and I quickly realised that I had found my dream job.

I was meeting and liaising with clients every day, each with their own unique story that needed a legal resolution. I loved that each case required client contact and that you had the opportunity to develop a real relationship with clients, due to the personal nature of the work.

I remember excitedly telling my GDL classmates that I wanted to pursue a career as a family solicitor. There was an awkward silence, followed by comments such as “that’s great, but don’t you want to do a more challenging area of law?”. I found myself surrounded by graduates who could only see one clear path to becoming a successful solicitor and that was commercial law in a City firm. My classmates’ responses were disheartening, but my mind was made up.

I remained steadfast in my commitment, developing my experience in family law and loving every minute of it. I qualified as a family solicitor in 2015, having worked exclusively in family law aside from my training contract seats.

I am now an associate at K J Smith solicitors which is a Legal 500 rated family law firm. Having now worked within family law for overs five years, I am surer than ever that the initial disparaging comments of my classmates reflect a common misconception of family law.

The family law I practise is challenging in every way and family law should not be considered as a legal discipline that is any less worthy a career. I have no doubt that the leading family practitioners would have much to say about any suggestion that their intellect was being ‘wasted’ on family law.

Each family law case often encompasses various legal aspects such as divorce, financial matters and children matters. It follows that each case usually requires clients to be interviewed, statements to be drafted, court applications to be completed and court hearings to be prepared for and attended.  I love that family law is not a sector that involves fragmented, repetitive ‘conveyer belt’ tasks. As a family solicitor, you will usually manage the entire case, ensuring variety in your day-to-day work. 

The increasingly complex and international nature of people’s lives today make for an abundance of interesting cases across the breadth of the family sector. Children cases now involve issues such as surrogacy, adoption, blended families, international families, parental alienation and transgender parents, which need to be considered alongside the traditional question of who the children should live with and how often they should spend time with the other parent.

The growth in co-habiting couples as well as those couples marrying for a second or third time and those who are entering or leaving relationships with significant wealth, has also added depth and complexity to work regarding separation and divorce. This is true whether you are tasked with protecting finances in a pre-nuptial agreement or tasked with helping to achieve a fair financial settlement after a relationship breakdown.

The recent cases of Ipekci v McConnell (2019) and Hammoud v Al Zawawi (2019) illustrate the complex and interesting cases that are currently being determined by the family courts and give a flavour of the work you could be involved with as a family solicitor.

The family law legislative landscape needs to continually adapt to reflect and address changes in our culture and family law solicitors play a large role in campaigning for progress. The recent ‘no fault divorce’ heralds a big change and move away from the historic ‘blame’ culture following a marital breakdown. It is evidence of the influence, perception and importance of family law.

For me, the human element in family law is hard to beat – you are genuinely helping to change people’s lives. There is an immense satisfaction in knowing that you have helped a client successfully navigate their way through one of life’s most challenging periods. 

So, if you had not considered family law because you were worried about the potential lack of opportunities or you were fearful of being thrown into a mind-numbing world of ‘basic’ law, do not worry, the truth is far from it and it’s not too late!

There are now a variety of niche family law firms which reflect the growing family law sector. Please do take the opportunity to explore working not only in family law but also other niche and specialist areas to make sure you pursue the right area of law for you.

Sharan Bhinder-Dhonsi is an associate at K J Smith Solicitors.