Have you ever considered pursuing a career in family law? There are plenty of variables to consider if you are considering getting into law, particularly if you are looking at becoming a family lawyer, you would need education on family law.
In Australia, the family law system deals with legal concerns relating to family and domestic conflicts. When dealing with issues that arise between family members living in the same household, family lawyers in Sydney can assist adults and children.
Family law cases in Australia are usually about providing advice and assistance with relationship conflicts, including separation, divorce, or domestic violence, with other areas guardianship, overseeing adoption, and family estate subjects.
This article will teach you all you need to know about becoming a family lawyer. This is a popular and exciting area of law, but divorce and other disputes can bring up some emotional issues.
What is Family Law?
Family law is concerned with finding answers to problems involving frequently complicated legal relationships. Marriage and parenting are examples of this. As a result, family law practice can include working with a wide range of people, from infants to adults and everything in between. Since family law pertains to some very personal aspects of a client’s life, this then could be one of the most highly emotional areas of law to practice.
Topics in Family Law
Family law is quite varied. As a result, the topics studied at one institution may differ significantly from those studied at another.
Often these modules will incorporate a few core topics (including marriage, divorce and children) along with many others which will be more precisely connected to the professors’ fields of expertise.
Here are some examples:
- Financial separation, divorce, and dissolution
- Children, parental duty, domicile, contact, and contact. Adoption, surrogacy, child abduction, and even abuse and neglect are examples of this.
- Children’s Rights (taking into account a child’s ability to make decisions for themselves)
- Domestic Violence
- International Treaties such as the ECHR impose domestic duties upon families.
- The legality of parenthood in the context of the growth in same-sex partnerships.
- The State and Family Law. This covers the involvement of government agencies and municipal governments in child care and safety.
What Does It Take to Become a Family Lawyer?
To work as a family lawyer, you must possess certain personal qualities as well as relevant work experience. You’ll also need to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the topic.
Is it Right For Me?
Working in family law may require you to work with both adults and children, so you should be ready for client interaction. You must be able to cope with these children and adults if they find themselves in distressing situations.
It also helps if you have a desire to help people and want to improve your relationship management and client interaction skills. Working as a family lawyer differs significantly from working as a tax attorney, for instance. It is also useful to be able to detach yourself from the client and their concerns on a personal level, as you must always remain professional.
What is the Role of a Family Lawyer?
Family lawyers exist to assist clients in better understanding their situation and resolving any issues that may arise as a result of their family arrangement. They can draft pre-nuptial contracts before getting married to safeguard someone’s financial interests, counsel on the premises of divorce or civil partnership dissolution and compose separation agreements.
Family lawyers can also suggest reasonable financial settlements after divorce and help ensure assets are split fairly and reasonably between parties.
Family attorneys discuss agreements such as contact, residency, and access for children. They furthermore help achieve the settlement of particular problems in a child’s life growing up like who has a parental duty to make certain decisions regarding the child.
Family lawyers are in the best position to request any court orders that are relevant to the case they are working on. If a settlement cannot be reached, a family lawyer can assist clients in the courtroom.
On a daily basis, a family lawyer may be required to:
- Participate in client meetings
- Look into past instances that are comparable to the one they are working on.
- Examine legal issues.
- Prepare legal papers such as witness statements.
- Investigate and assess the evidence that may be useful to their clients.
- Negotiate a settlement deal with the opposition.
- Make a family court application.
- Meet with barristers to discuss pending cases.
- Attend court sessions before a judge or jury.
Family Law Degrees and Certifications in Sydney
Before beginning a family law degree, you should ask yourself a lot of things.
Is this the perfect job for you, what does a family lawyer do, and how does one become a good lawyer?
Acquiring a credential in family law looks at a broad variety of legal matters, covering marital, domestic, and civil unions, domestic abuse, divorce, annulment, and prenuptial agreements. Child custody, visitation rights, and child support, as well as other areas of property and financial settlements. Adoption, surrogacy, child protection, paternity, and juvenile law are all issues that need to be addressed.
Law graduates can consider spending the period of at least 5-6 years in their law schooling, before being a fully qualified family lawyers. A bachelor’s degree in law (LLB) takes 3 to 4 years to complete. It may take up to a year to finish the Practical Legal Training (PLT) course.
You can study for a Master of Law (LLM) degree, that permits you to specialise in family law, But take note that this qualification is not compulsory in becoming a family attorney.
To practise law in Sydney, you must apply for admission to the NSW Admissions Authority within five years of graduation. Then you must acquire a Practising Certificate from the local Law Society, these qualifications are more favoured if you wish to practise in family law which allows you to begin supervised practice in a law firm.
Getting a Job at a Law Firm in Sydney
With so many legal companies in Sydney, there is a lot of competition for positions.
The very first step towards becoming a family lawyer after accomplishing an undergraduate degree in law, and the need to apply for the Law Society for a Practising Certificate. It’s time to take the next steps toward joining a law firm once you’ve received your qualification.
You must complete supervised practice for 18 to 24 months, which enables you to have the training necessary at a law firm or legal practice, specialising in multi-services.
There are several important things that can support your CV stand out from the others, think about outlining your course modules by relevancy and give stress to the crucial aspects of the qualifications based on the law firm you are aiming for.
You must make sure that your details are updated with current skills of any work experience you have learned through the vacation scheme or further strengths and accomplishments obtained through other areas in a legal office.
As a family lawyer in Sydney, you can help people with family and relationship disputes, as well as other family law issues. As some instances include children or victims of domestic abuse, this task might become onerous. If you are particularly looking for a position in a Parramatta law firm, visit Mcauley Hawach.
