Lisa Honey, family lawyer at East Anglian firm Tees Law, shares a day in her working life with The Brief.

Early Mornings

My day begins at 6.00am. I am the first person in the shower, and I need to be quick as my son, who is one year old, will be up shortly. My one-year-old is now up and is pulling the plug of the hair dryer out of the wall and so, every 30 seconds, I am having to stop to plug it back in and persuade him that his toy monster truck is much more appealing (and safer). 

Once I am ready and my son is washed and dressed, we go down to the kitchen. I place him on the floor and try to pack my bag (and his bag for nursery) whilst he hangs off my leg making strange noises for his breakfast, because he isn’t speaking yet. He will have his breakfast at nursery, but he doesn’t understand that.

I really enjoy my 45-minute drive to work. I am alone and I can listen to my podcasts without interruption.

Ideally, I should organise our bags the evening before, but that never happens! Finally, we are ready to leave the house – I strap baby into the car and off we go! Quick drop off at nursery and I am free. The good news is that my son absolutely loves nursery which means there is no mum guilt when leaving him.

I really enjoy my 45-minute drive to work. I am alone and I can listen to my podcasts without interruption. Once at the office, I begin by checking my emails. I’m usually already aware of what has come in, as I do check my emails on my mobile phone in the evening. I will decide which ones are urgent and begin prioritising my day.

Day-to-day work

My caseload varies widely and ranges from divorce and finances to cases involving children, unmarried couple disputes, injunctions involving domestic abuse and pre-nuptial agreements. Family law can be mentally draining but I have, over the ten years since I qualified, learned to take a pragmatic approach whilst still providing empathy.

Each case is different and each client has different needs, and it is all about discovering those needs early on, usually during the first meeting. My day-to-day work requires a sensitive ear, dealing with situations which are often highly emotive and challenging.

My clients are going through one of the most difficult times in their lives, and they must feel they can trust me to get the job done. All that being said, a career in family law provides a highly rewarding experience and I feel privileged in my position to be able to make a real difference in people’s lives.

Most of my cases are contentious, with parties unable to agree on the division of the finances and/or what the child arrangements will look like.

Most of my cases are contentious, with parties unable to agree on the division of the finances and/or what the child arrangements will look like. We are big advocates of Non-Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR), and we will always try to steer clients towards methods such as mediation, arbitration or collaborative law (provided those methods are suitable).

We do have two mediators and a collaborative lawyer in the team, and we are also able to offer the Resolution Together approach if the parties feel they agree and want one lawyer to act for both parties.

I spend a lot of time negotiating settlements with solicitors acting for the other party. This involves exchanging financial information, discussing options with the client and exchanging offers to settle with the other side.

It may also involve a back-and-forth through correspondence or round-table meetings to discuss and agree the arrangements for any children. However, reaching an agreement is not always possible and inevitably there are cases which do end up in lengthy and expensive court proceedings.

I do spend a lot of time working on court cases, issuing applications and preparing for upcoming hearings. On occasion, I will attend court to represent my client but in most cases I will instruct a specialist barrister (usually one I have worked with for many years) to act on behalf of the client at the hearing.

I am a member of several networking groups locally and I also spend time posting on social media and organising events.

As part of the preparation for the hearing, I will organise a conference between myself, the client and the barrister with the purpose of setting out any strategies for the hearing, but also to give the client a chance to go over any concerns they may have.

Another aspect of my role is developing the business through marketing and networking events. I am a member of several networking groups locally and I also spend time posting on social media and organising events through Tees for our business contacts and clients.

Although family law is not generally a 9-5, I do try to be home in time for my son’s bedtime. I work flexibly a few times a week which means I am home for dinner, bath and bedtime.

My working life at Tees

At the time of writing, the family team at Tees consists of 21 staff members, including 15 lawyers, across five offices in Hertfordshire, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Although I am primarily based in our office in Chelmsford, I live bang in the middle of all the offices and so I can see clients at any of our five locations.

I live bang in the middle of all the offices and so I can see clients at any of our five locations.

We are very fortunate at Tees to also have a wide range of lawyers with different areas of expertise. The Tees tagline of “Giving you the full picture” is really practised throughout the firm. I often refer clients on to our wealth team, who specialise in financial advice and future forecasting as well as referring clients for wills, conveyancing services and commercial property advice.

One of the best things about Tees is the way they care for their staff. We have a wellbeing committee and several mental health first aiders (of whom I am one). There is a real feeling of belonging, with a degree of flexibility that allows members to work in a way that suits individual circumstances.

Visit

Tees Law

Connect with Lisa Honey via Linkedin