Mary McEvoy and Beth Woodward in our Family Team are trained Collaborative Lawyers
and members of the Bedfordshire Collaborative Law POD.

The Bedfordshire Collaborative Law POD held a Speed Networking Event on the 20th October. The purpose of the event was to explore how the business community could support clients who are separating. Couples who are separating have to face a number of new challenges some of which have enormous implications for them such as change of home, change of schools for their children, re-arrangement of financial plans and assessment of pension provision.

Other changes are apparently more mundane but can be even more disruptive than the obvious major financial matters. For example, a parent who has been a primary carer for the children may have to look for a job and may need the help of a recruitment consultant, more training or even advice on personal presentation. People may need to learn new skills – how to work with new technology, office procedures, how to fix the plumbing or the computer! Or they may need to know someone who can fix the plumbing or the computer!!

The aim of the organisers of the event was to bring together those with skills and services who could support separating couples. It was also felt that Collaborative Law is not fully understood, appreciated or even known about so it was an opportunity for the Bedfordshire Collaborative Law group to explain how Collaborative Law works.

As Resolution (First for Family Law) explain in their literature about Collaborative Law: “sometimes, talking things through can seem the hardest challenge of all. Especially when relationships break down, hurt, bitterness and anger are often the strongest feelings. But almost always, the very best solutions are those which you work out for yourselves, together – and which in everyone involved can share. At its simplest that’s what Collaborative Law is all about – reaching solutions together to ease the pain of relationship breakdown and to create the best chance of building a bright future. It is about changing the way people resolve family breakdown”.

The group consists of lawyers, an accountant and independent financial advisers.

We are also hoping to recruit family therapists (counsellors).

The Bedfordshire Collaborative Law POD would like to thank all those who attended the event and hope they enjoyed the evening and found the event informative.

We certainly enjoyed meeting all of you and thought that Bedfordshire Golf Club was an ideal venue. We were also busy networking but most of you had left by the time the prize-draw took place. The prize, a Golf Voucher donated by the Golf Club, was won by Keith Cawdell of Cranbourne Consultancy. He has kindly indicated that he proposes to donate this to Bedford De Parys Rotary Club to use a prize at a forthcoming fundraising event that they are holding.