Paul Psaltis is the global chief executive of Settify. Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, produced in partnership with Settify, he discussed the spike in separations in recent months and the current state of affairs in family law.

According to Psaltis, there are a number of reasons why there has been a spike in separations at this time of year – and Settify data indicates that globally, there has been a 40 per cent spike in inquiries lodged with legal practices in the first quarter of the year.

“Through the festive season heading into the new year, people use that time to reflect on their personal circumstances. Probably similar as to why there’s a spike in gym memberships this time of year as well. People look at themselves and see how they can change their circumstances over the festive season. There’s a lot of stressors and pressures put on,” he explained.

“Families spend normally a two, three-week period in very close proximity with people. And if your relationship isn’t in a great space or it’s already toxic, that’s quite exacerbated. Adding to that perfect storm is financial pressures normally happen around this time of year as well. People spend more money when they’re financially stressed. If you look over the last couple of years, it’s common knowledge that cost of living has increased significantly.

“And those pressures and stresses can create quite a pressure-filled environment for households. Also, if you go back a couple of years, if you look at what has happened, say, post-COVID, and what’s happening with the way in which people are trying to handle their separations, an increase in people trying to separate under the one roof, but also trying to be a little more amicable and try to sort things out, and all of that kind of creates that perfect storm.”

Psaltis added that there are also additional factors that impacting the current state of affairs within the family law space

“The increase of people working from home, especially post-COVID, means that in particular roles and particular family units, people are spending a lot more time together. My wife and I have a toddler, and having young ones spending a lot more time together can add to those pressures as well. And a lot of that has been normalised post-COVID.

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“There’s not only been a spike in divorces or an increase in divorces progressively since the pandemic, but other things that we’ve noticed since COVID is, there’s a greater number of people who are separating but staying under one roof. So, you can separate but still be living under the one roof. And that, of course, creates pressure. If you’re in a toxic environment and separating under the one roof, there’s a propensity for [domestic violence] to happen, too,” he added.

“Between 2000 and 2022, the percentage of people who have reported their separation being on reasonable terms has actually decreased. Back in 2020, around or prior to the pandemic, it was upwards of 60 [to] 65 per cent. Last year, it was 40 per cent and dropping. So, if you look at the greater number of people trying to separate and staying under one roof, that’s probably where it’s impacting them being on reasonable terms.”

As such, the matters family lawyers are dealing with are also more acrimonious – and acrimonious separations in Australia can cost upwards of $60,000.

“A lot of lawyers now are trying to avoid going to court and going down the litigation pathway. They’re trying to go down the education pathway, alternative dispute resolution, mediation, and that’s because of how time-consuming things are,” Psaltis said.

“Also, the delay from when matters are lodged with the courts to when you actually receive an outcome could be years. [Lawyers are] also trying to save their customers some money. I think lawyers now are less adversarial and are more wanting to collaborate, particularly in the family law space, understanding that with these increases, they’re just trying to find the best outcome for all parties, not just their own party, particularly if there are children involved.”

Finding alternative ways to support their clients will be particularly important for family lawyers moving forward, especially when dealing with emotionally charged matters and clients.

“It’s not uncommon for practitioners to receive correspondence almost daily or multiple times a day from their clients because of the nature of what is going on. And often, they can be quite frustrated with the delays in the process, delays if it does go down the court process, but also if they don’t receive what they perceive as a favourable outcome,” Psaltis concluded.

“And so, when practitioners utilise their network, utilise technology better, utilise technology from the very commencement of engaging a client, it not only ... sets an expectation with the clients and makes the clients life a little easier, but makes the practitioner’s life a lot easier as well because when they have that first meeting, a lot of those very initial formalities and expectations are set and met.”

The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Paul Psaltis, click below: