In the last 12 months Shaun Mill of our office has completed two very significant milestones in his career as a Brisbane family lawyer.

First, Shaun graduated from his Masters degree in Applied Family Law in 2018; and second, Shaun has successfully completed Accredited Specialisation – Family Law in November 2019.

Most, if not all, Australian lawyers would be familiar with the Specialist Accreditation program overseen by the various State Law Societies.

The purpose of the program is to signal to the public utilising legal services that a practitioner has a higher level of experience and knowledge within the area of specialisation. On the Queensland Law Society website, the Society says of the program:

“The program provides practitioners with an opportunity to be formally recognised for their high level of competence and knowledge in their particular area of expertise… [and provides] … the public, and the legal profession, with a link to practitioners who are leaders in their field. Accredited specialists have successfully completed an advanced, peer reviewed assessment program specific to their area of expertise. The Specialist Accreditation Logo and post nominals, are a nationally recognised “mark of excellence”.”

In completing his assessment Shaun has undergone rigorous practical and written examinations, been required to provide peer references, and he has met the minimum 5 years of practice predominately within the field (in Shaun’s case almost 7 years exclusively in Family Law at the time of writing this).

Shaun grew up in the Redlands and started his career at Hooper Mill Family Lawyers doing some work experience and accompanying me to Court in his 4^rd year at uni of his 5 year double degree. Just prior to completing his degree in 5^th year he came to work for us full time and completed his PLT graduate diploma (practical legal training) while working with us.

In the years following Shaun has gone from strength to strength and has established himself as an excellent practitioner with a very bright career ahead of him. I am very proud to have had the opportunity to mentor Shaun and to have him as part of my firm.

During all of this hard work Shaun has also managed to travel to Europe, the USA and Maldives on separate occasions, get married to his lovely wife and become a father to his beautiful daughter… congratulations Shaun.

The emotional stress of divorce is felt through any family, especially to the youngest and most sensitive members. The children. The child inclusive mediation method was developed in response to research about the effect parental conflict during separation has on children. The primary goal of this method, according to Professor Lawrie Moloney, is to re-establish and maintain a secure emotional base for children post separation (Moloney 2012:3)

What’s the child inclusive mediation method?

Dr Jennifer McIntosh, a clinical child psychologist, describes some of the fundamental elements of the CI process as follows (McIntosh 2007:5):

The session with the children must be supportive and appropriate as to the dispute and separation
Decision making shouldn’t be a burden the children carry
A therapeutic element is needed to help children with coping, providing information and validating their experiences
Assisting parents to hear and reflect upon the children’s experiences to better understand the children’s needs

Child inclusive mediation “ups the ante” by directly involving the children. This way the parents truly understand how their child feels and what they want. Expert advice is still considered in the proceedings as they’d meet with the children to gauge their state of mind during the separation.

The ultimate goal of any mediation involving young people is to reduce conflict and to prohibit agendas or “tactics” one parent may use over another to gain primary custody.

Does this method work?

In a 2006 study, 79% of the combined child-inclusive and child-focused mediation participants reported flattening out of their conflict. Other statistics from the study showed:

82% of CI cases felt this method had improved the way their dispute was handled
61% of children reported better outcomes for the family

In mediation, a clichéd image is the mother having primary custody awarded to her. However, there is an interesting result from the 2006 study. There was less acrimony, greater fulfilment with resolutions and a stronger sense of agreement among fathers in the year after the mediation (McIntosh and Long 2006:122). Fathers also had a greater perception of fairness from the child inclusive process (McIntosh and Long 2006:124)

For mothers there was a greater sense of preservation in the bond with their children. The benefits for the children included a perceived “closeness” with their father’s. They also reported being happier with agreements 1 year after the mediation (McIntosh and Long 2006:122).

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Congratulations Shaun Mill

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