Is a commonly used phrase but not one that we at Staffordshire Family law like, agree with or indeed tolerate. It has an air of acceptance, if not defeatism. It is not something you would want your Advocate in Court to say or fail to challenge.
Gabi Chester Director of Staffordshire Family Law reflects on her main passion within her role: advocacy.
Being a solicitor is not just applying the law, carefully drafting documents and managing your file. It is about being a strong advocate for your client. What happens in a Court hearing can sometimes have a greater impact than the preceding months of careful communication between the parties. Having intricate knowledge of the history of the case, and all its twists and turns, can also assist when having to react quickly in the Court room environment. If you are involved in a Court case, you would want the person advocating for you in Court to be the person who knows you, your desired outcome and your file the best. We therefore strive to provide our clients with the full package to include in house advocacy at all hearings where possible for all our clients. We ensure all staff coming through have experience of observing extensive, in Court, advocacy before we set them free to stand, literally, on their own two feet.
Given the nature of my work and the fact that, primarily, I represent the child through their Guardians, I do not receive many reviews or feedback from my client, who is of course, the child subject to the application. I do however receive regular feedback from my professional client the guardian on behalf of the child. Having recently concluded a case I received the following feedback from a highly regarded Guardian: –
I was indebted to you for your excellent submissions, making crystal clear that the Local Authority should recognise the quality and success of the outcome of these proceedings. You say that you were honoured to be appointed as solicitor for (child) yet I knew that yours are a safe pair of hands. You have afforded me quality time to discuss in detail what I was thinking and considering to propose and I observed you convey this with authority, ownership and confidence in the court. It is this strength that persuaded the judge and pulled the rug from beneath the Local Authority of any inclination to dismiss our recommendations. I am indebted to you for your confidence and belief in this family arrangement and I am equally honoured for all your endeavours in the best interests of (child)
Being the ‘team for the child’ before the Court is what I love about my job. Outcomes are only achieved by challenging where required, questioning and analysing recommendations and planning for the child and ensuring a robust presentation of the case before the Court. As s child panel accredited solicitor, I am subject to rigorous training and regular re-assessment to ensure that the representation on behalf of the child which of course could be a newborn baby, is of the highest quality to ensure right outcomes for the child. Of course, representing the interests of the child means you would expect the Advocate to be of an assessed calibre, but any representation in Court whether this is for a parent or other family member can be pivotable to the outcome of the case. Advocacy does not suit all however training the next generation of Staffordshire Family Law and ensuring they have got the confidence to robustly advocate in Court and are rapidly becoming respected Court Advocates is so pleasing to see and to watch their confidence growing and thriving on achieving the outcomes we regularly do for our clients.
Being an Advocate requires strength of belief, an ability to think of your feet, dealing with overt challenges, presenting a strong case and sometimes being told off by Judges! Its not an easy role to perform but brings with it a great sense of satisfaction when done right. It is a responsibility, being given the opportunity to persuade the court to adopt our client’s position, but we will always strive to achieve this for our clients.
Being in the spotlight and subject to the intense scrutiny of the Court can be difficult. And it would make the job far easier to simply accept “we are where we are”. But not at SFL. That’s why I love being on my feet in Court……… not accepting what seem to be inevitable, but challenging and persuading, to secure the right outcomes for our clients.