After more than 16 years as an ‘employed’ family lawyer, in February 2016 I made a choice taking me in a “Different Direction” a “New Beginning”. My ‘Different Direction. New Beginning’ saw the creation of Parry Coates Family Law. Why?
- Family law is what I do, what I’ve always done. I believe I’m good at it
- Allows me to manage my law practice where the most important person is the client
- Allows me to service clients in a cost effective manner
- Enables us to work as a team during the family law process
- Offers flexibility – it is important for our children to have their family available for them when they need us most
- Commitment – teaching our children the importance of commitment and hard work
If I am being honest, which is an important value in my day to day practice, and life, I really didn’t like school, nor did I pay attention. However, there was one poet and one poem which has stayed with me in the 20-something years since high school. This poem has more meaning to me and Parry Coates Family Law than it ever has before – “The Road Not Taken”
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost
For many clients, the breakdown of a relationship is a ‘road not taken’. The path to a lawyer may also be foreign. Whilst we cannot take away the emotional hurt as a result of separation, we can be your driving instructor, being there to educate you about your family law matter.
As a family lawyer, it is my responsibility and duty to ensure that all clients receive honest and practical advice. There is one common theme with the feedback I receive from clients – the advice given is direct and compassionate.
In 2015, I became a Nationally Accredited Mediator. I remain interested and committed to an alternative method of resolving disputes. A mediated solution provides certainty for each party and allows them an element of control over their agreement. As a mediator, the facilitative method of mediation is implemented. Parties explore their concerns and issues, discuss solutions, leading to a resolution.
Brisbane QLD 4000