In Your Shoes - Amanda Wilson

I am a family law specialist, who decided to launch myr own legal practice in November 2020, based at Dundee One.  Prior to that I had spent 15 years working in the family law team at Thorntons, latterly as a partner.

I advise on all areas of family law, including separation/divorce, child disputes, prenups, cohabitation rights, adoption and surrogacy.

Our team has expanded during 2021, with experienced family law secretary, Alix MacKay and law graduate, Sophie Fairweather joining the business.

Bouncing into Monday!

Not a typical Monday for me!  Our little girl turned two today so my husband and I took the day off and took her and our three year old little boy to the kid’s session at Ryze in the morning.  I think we all know who had the most fun!

I love the flexibility of working for myself, especially with a young family.  Like many, that was one of the reasons for setting up my own legal practice last year and I have never looked back. 

I caught up with some exisiting client work in the evening and made some calls to new clients then too.

Tuesday

A busy and productive day in the office today.  I had some papers to finalise for various court actions then existing client work to progress as well as some consultations with new clients. 

I was touched to receive a beautiful thank you gift from a client today which really brightened up the office!

Peak of the Week!

Another busy day in the office today.  We are based at Dundee One and have our own office here but it's great to share the communal area with other local businesses too.  You really feel part of the wider business community. 

Dundee One is located on the 4th floor of Rivercourt and it is a really inspiring place to work.  The views out to the Tay are incredible and there is a great mix of businesses here; from recruiters, to gamers, estate agents to App developers - and everything inbetween. 

There is even an office dog, who made us all smile today by wearing his Christmas jumper!

Consciously Uncoupling

Today I attended the first joint Collaborative Law meeting with my client, his ex-wife and her solicitor.  Collaborative Law is a form of ADR in family law.   I qualified as a Collaborative Lawyer in 2011.

Rather than separating couples negotiating in the traditional way – with letters/emails passing back and forward between their respective solicitors - in Collaborative Law, the discussions and negotiations take place through a series of fourway meetings. 

The process encourages respect and openness throughout.  Uniquely, at the first meeting, the couple have to sign a contract which confirms that they are committed to resolving their dispute amicably, using the Collaborative process and that they will not go to court. 

It’s not for everyone but in my experience it is normally a much more positive experience for all involved than protracted negotiations or, worse still, court.  Especially where there are children involved.

For this meeting, we met remotely via Zoom, which worked well.  Particularly as my client is currently working overseas and his wife, her solicitor and I are all based in different cities across Scotland! 

Court from the comfort of the office...

Whilst I generally try to encourage my clients to resolve matters without going to court, there will inevitably be cases which simply need a court to make a decision.  Today I had one such case, which was calling at Perth Sheriff Court.

As a result of Covid, most family hearings are now dealt with remotely.  For this morning’s hearing, my client came to my office and we attended the hearing via WebEx.

There are pros and cons to remote hearings but I do think that, especially for certain family cases, it is much less intimidating for clients to come along to the office, or even do it from their own home - rather than having to physically go to court. 

It can also reduce their legal costs since their solicitor doesn’t have to spend time travelling to and from court and can appear from their office instead.

It has been another busy week and, like many I suspect -  it was rounded off with my Covid Booster and last minute Christmas shopping!