Balance Family Law is bringing a “collaborative” approach to divorce and separations by helping people work together to achieve positive outcomes. This is a sponsored post.

RECOGNISED for its innovation with more than 15 awards, Balance Family Law’s collaborative approach to divorce and separations aims to minimise heartache and high costs, says director and principal lawyer Perpetua (Pepe) Kish.

Pepe, who runs the firm with co-founder Jonathon Naef, says that Balance has a team-based focus on family law, not a litigious one.

“Traditional lawyers often try to attribute blame. In many separations there’s finger pointing, accusations and that’s especially the case when emotions are high and trust has been eroded,” says Pepe.

“At Balance we don’t want people to attack each other, we want them to attack the problem.

“We encourage people who are separating to work together instead of fighting and we really reflect on how we as lawyers can minimise conflict and help families not escalate issues.

“Last year we had 70 matters progress through a family law settlement and only one of those went to court.”

This innovative approach has seen the firm recognised with more than 15 awards in just 18 months, including for Boutique Law Firm of the year at the 2020 Australian Law Awards, an accolade they’ve been nominated for again this year.

Pepe says they’re also the only full-service family law and estate planning firm in the ACT that charges a fixed fee, so that clients are aware of costs as they move forward.

“We make sure our clients are aware of what costs will be so that they can more confidently make decisions and have that extra sense of comfort,” she says.

Balance also offers free 20-minute phone consultations, says Pepe, and if needed they’re happy to do these after hours to help accommodate their clients.

“We like to say that when you separate and divorce your relationship isn’t over, it’s just changing, especially if there are children involved,” says Pepe.

“Our goal is to have clients come out of the legal process of a separation with a civil, intact family relationship and help people feel like things aren’t out of their control.”

Balance Family Law, 11 Parbery Street, Kingston. Call 6189 1748, visit balancefamilylaw.com.au, instagram.com/balance_family_law or facebook.com/balancefamilylaw