Family Lawyers & Mediation Services provide family law help through their experienced family law courts litigators.

Whether you intend commencing proceedings responding to an Application or are already involved in Family Court proceeings relating to any Family Law matter (when we refer to Family Court we are referring to both the Federal Magistrates Court and the Family Court of Australia at Brisbane) then the professional legal services of Family Lawyers and Mediation Services can be engaged to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Whilst we will zealously represent you we are also mindful of the costs of litigation and the benefits for reaching an agreement through negotiation and mediation.

Family Court proceedings consist of the following stages:

	The initial or first return date
	An interim application hearing date (usually at the tiime fo the first return date)
	Mention or adjournment dates (when the court makes orders until the next time the matter is in Court)
	Orders that the parties attend mediation
	Orders that the parties attend a family report (childrens matters)
	Final Hearing - otherwise called the Trial

The cost of litigation is sometimes increased by the actions of the other side and/or their lawyers although we will always attempt to minimise those costs for our clients.  There are strategies that we employ to pre-empt and anticipate the moves of the other parties and their lawyers which place our client's in a better position to achieve the outcomes they are seeking.

Parties in litigation in the Family Court have obligations of disclosure (which means providing relative documents to the otherside) and our litigation lawyers will help you decide what documents are relevant thereby reducing the costs of that disclosure obligation.

The rules of Court are complex and require both experience and knowledge to ensure compliance and the best possible outcomes.

Contact us at Family Lawyers & Mediation Services for experienced and expert legal advice.  Mark Francis is the partner in charge of our litigation division.