The Northern Lights DR conference 2023

10nov9:00 am4:30 pmThe Northern Lights DR conference 2023

Event Details

09:00 – 09:15

Registration

09:15 – 10:45

Opening session: Separated from a narcissist? Now what to watch out for?

Karin Walker


Karin Walker will look at how to resolve post separation issues where one party appears to suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder including:- i. Recognising that a Narcissist will never change ii. How to avoid providing on-going supply iii. The importance of careful drafting iv. Implementation of an existing order v. Child arrangements and ongoing child-related issues vi. A new relationship vii. Communication. Karin Walker set up KGW Family Law in 2012 and is a solicitor, mediator, collaborative practitioner, and arbitrator – also trainer and published author. She is committed to assisting clients resolve their issues through constructive communication and her book ‘Do it out of court – a practical guide to dispute resolution processes in family law’ was published in March of this year. She is also the co-author of ‘Narcissism in Family Law – a practitioner’s guide’ and ‘Divorcing a Narcissist – the Lure, the Loss and the Law.’
10:45 – 11:00

Coffee break

11:00 – 12:30

Workshop 1: Co-parenting: what is it, why is it important?

Marcie Shaoul


Co-parenting: what is it, why is it important and how to help your clients see why they need to do it. An exploration into what co-parenting is, the difference to shared and parallel parenting and why it is gaining support in the context of no-fault divorce. We will dive into the effects of not co-parenting on children and the far-reaching consequences it can have. We will look at the bare minimum that parents need to do to mitigate those effects. We will also look at the impact that parents remaining in high conflict can have on family lawyers and how that plays out in client relations. We will give practical tips to help move your clients from a place of high conflict and high emotion and towards co-parenting and being able to make effective decisions. Marcie Shaoul is a certified coach accredited to the International Coaching Federation. She is the founder and director of The Co-Parent Way, the UK’s only dedicated private co-parenting practice.

11:00 – 12:30

Workshop 1: Working with loss and grief

Danielle Barbereau


Although change forms integral part of our lives, it can be difficult to handle, especially when it is unexpected. Our divorcing clients often struggle with their new reality, even if they have chosen to separate. They are going through feelings of loss, grief, and uncertainty. This workshop is designed for professionals working with divorcing clients. The aims are to: – Understand grief/ loss – Understand the impact of grief on identity, purpose and confidence – Give professionals more confidence to work with clients going through transitions and change – Draw on some psychological models we can use to help our clients. After training with Kim Morgan at Barefoot coaching, Danielle founded her coaching practice in 2010, becoming one of the UK’s first specialist divorce coaches. Since then, she has worked with over 1,300 clients face to face. Her clients are exclusively referred by family lawyers UK-wide.

11:00 – 12:30

Workshop 1: Coaching to calm challenging conflict

Elaine Richardson


A practical workshop to identify high conflict and develop skills to manage it. Elaine is a family law solicitor, accredited child-inclusive hybrid mediator, collaborative lawyer, trainer, Professional Practice Consultant to fellow mediators and a Family Law Supervisor for fellow family lawyers. She trains lawyers and mediators and specialises in domestic abuse, safeguarding and high conflict personalities. In hybrid mediation, she keeps confidences to assist the negotiation and welcomes solicitors and barristers into mediation to support their clients. She has been a member of Resolution for over 25 years, having been chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside branches. She is a member of the Resolution national Dispute Resolution Committee and winner of the 2019 John Cornwell Award. Elaine served a term of 9 years on The Law Society national Family Law Committee and worked for the Home Office as a Truth Facilitator for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

11:00 – 12:30

Workshop 1: Understanding accounts and business valuations

Jonathan Beardsell


The workshop will begin with a walk through of a set of accounts, where I will iron out common misconceptions and highlight areas most open to manipulation. There will then be a short interactive exercise where participants will have the opportunity to use a set of accounts to obtain key information of relevance for divorce purposes. I will finish will a discussion of the basics of business valuation, again highlighting the most contentious areas and the areas most open to manipulation. I will speak in plain terms, explaining all the unnecessary accountancy jargon, so that participants will no longer be filled with dread when a set of financial statements lands on their desks. Jon is a Chartered Accountant with an additional qualification in business valuations. He has over sixteen years of forensic accounting experience, working on a variety of cases acting for both claimants and defendants, in single joint expert roles and expert determinations.

12:30 – 13:15

Lunch

13:15 – 14:45

Workshop 2: How much do we really listen?

Ed Heaton


In his “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey’s 5th habit is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. As lawyers, mediators, coaches and neutrals, how can we ever really hope to help our clients without first understanding their situation, how they feel about it and what they need and would like going forward? This workshop will focus, quite simply, on listening; or rather, the essential art of active listening, so often ironically referred to as a “soft skill”. Through exercises and interactive discussion, we will look at the contrast between listening and hearing, consider the different types of listening, discuss practical things that we can do to raise our game and think about the role that empathy has to play. Ed is a professional development and divorce coach with almost 20 years under his belt as a lawyer. He offers coaching support both to professionals and to their clients.

13:15 – 14:45

Workshop 2: Using neutrals in collaborative practice

Suzanne Smales

Suzanne Kingston


The workshop will address not only how to introduce and use neutrals (experts) most effectively in collaborative practice, but also the reasons why neutrals are so important. It will address the issue of the cost of neutrals, often perceived as a major disincentive to use neutrals. The workshop will also highlight the use of Early Neutral Evaluation, Mediation, and Arbitration in collaborative practice, as well as the more traditional financial and child/communication neutrals. Suzanne Smales is a barrister who practised in family law for 20 years before moving to Australia in 2010, where she requalified, and also trained as a collaborative lawyer and mediator. She moved back to the UK last year and is keen to develop an out of court practice base. Often referred to as “the Queen of Arbitration and Mediation’, Suzanne Kingston has a thriving mediation and arbitration practice and teaches both. She is credited with spearheading family law arbitration in England and Wales and worldwide.

13:15 – 14:45

Workshop 2: Challenging cases and how to survive them!

Will Kaye

Juliette Kinsey


Every day family lawyers are presented with difficult clients, aggressive opposing lawyers, and toxic relationships between separating couples, yet despite these obstacles family lawyers are expected to navigate their clients through the minefield of relationship breakdown, come out the other side with a settlement that the client is happy with whilst also maintaining their own sanity in readiness for the next challenging case! Juliette Kinsey and Will Kaye aim to provide some useful tips on how to manage challenging behaviours and self-care at the same time. The law is the easy bit! Will has been a specialist family lawyer practising in Yorkshire for over 25 years. He is a Collaborative Family Law specialist and strong advocate of the benefits of that process. Juliette has been a family lawyer for over 20 years, running her own legal and mediation practice for 13 years until 2020 when she merged her firm and became a Consultant Solicitor at Chivers Solicitors in Bingley.

13:15 – 14:45

Workshop 2: Resolution Together – working with two clients

Alison Bull


Increasing numbers of firms are now offering a “one lawyer two clients” service, along the lines of the “Resolution Together” process developed by Resolution. This session will introduce how RT works and what is recommended so that you can offer the service, and will provide an opportunity for discussion about experiences so far and the tricky issues that may arise. Alison Bull is a partner at Mills & Reeve LLP. She heads the Manchester family law team and the firm’s national family dispute resolution practice. She sits on the National Committee of Resolution and is a board member of the Family Mediation Council, and was involved in developing “Resolution Together” with the Resolution Future Family Practice working group.

14:45 – 15:00

Coffee break

15:00 – 16:30

Closing session: Using neutrals in DR

Clarion Solicitors


Hosted by the team at Clarion, our all-conference closing session will bring together a panel representing collaborative practice, mediation, arbitration, private FDRs, Resolution Together and neutrals to discuss how to bring neutrals into the DR process.

16:30 – 18:00

Networking & drinks: sponsored by Dere Street Barristers

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Time

November 10, 2023 9:00 am - 4:30 pm(GMT+00:00)

Location

Clarion 13-19 Queen Street Leeds LS1 2TW

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