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Starting a ‘new family law’ firm
Whilst NewLaw has been on the rise since pre-pandemic, this firm director is now bringing new and innovative practices into her family law practice.
Lauren Croft
Emma Maxwell is the director of Anchored Family Law — and recently discussed new family law and her journey to opening her new firm on the Boutique Lawyer Show.
“I went on maternity leave and had my baby just before the pandemic, so I came back to work, working from home, and all of a sudden having a baby of my own, all of the things about family law that I’d had a little bit of issues with beforehand were really hitting me in the face, and I realised I didn’t want to practice the way I’d previously practised, I wanted my practice to work around me and my family,” she said.
“And I did a lot of work on my values and why things are necessarily done the way they’re done, until I, and it was a really intentional process of working out what would suit me, and at the same time how that would suit my clients.”
These kinds of issues had included being pushed back into the office, receiving threats and being insulted by a few clients — and Ms Maxwell found that having her own practice had a number of benefits.
“I was seeing how well remote practice was working with family law clients, particularly clients that didn’t feel safe, didn’t have to leave their house or their safe place, they didn’t have to have that overwhelming experience of going to a lawyer’s office, which it may be a normal Wednesday for a lawyer, but it’s a big deal for most clients to go in and discuss the most private parts of their family, and being able to do that from a safe place remotely was really lovely,” she said.
“I was able to be less formal with my clients, I was at home and I was able to talk to them, and it changed the relationship I was having with them. I was finding that even though I wasn’t in person, I was getting a better bond and relationship with my clients.”
Anchored Family Law is a “completely online by design firm” with four staff currently and plans for expansion moving forward.
“All of our team members work remotely, I work from an office pod in my backyard, which my husband built for me. We’re very different from the standard family law firms, so our pricing model works on a subscription basis where clients pay a monthly subscription for our assistance, and then when they need to add particular services, such as court services or mediation, they then pay for those from a menu of services. So, they have a real certainty from the very outset of what their legal fees are going to be,” Ms Maxwell explained.
“From my perspective, I see new family law as delivering services in a different way, which is online, in a flexible way too. So, I work around my client schedules, I work on weekends, I offer after-hours appointments. And the new billing model is the real core part of it for me. So, the subscription plan is very new. I understand we’re the only one offering it in Australia, but I’m getting a really good response from clients and it’s really working for our firm.”
This “new family law” working model has meant that Ms Maxwell has a great deal of flexibility — and she offers the same to her clients.
“You cannot have a conversation with your family lawyer with your children in the room, and I understand that it’s hard to get that time as a parent without your children there so you can talk honestly about what’s happening in your matter, and people don’t necessarily want to do that at work, or have the ability to do that at work. In terms of switching off, I have worked really, really hard on learning skills as a family lawyer around compartmentalising my practice from my home life,” she said.
“[And] I think doing the work on my values, and taking every decision back to my values, has really driven me forward to build a firm that’s consistent with what makes me happy.”
The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Emma Maxwell, click below:
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
