The credit crunch is already forcing business professionals to work together more closely and rethink how they serve clients – but there is plenty more we can do.

That was the clear message that came out of the inaugural professionals’ lunch held near Stratford upon Avon, in Warwickshire, last month to discuss the impact the current economic downturn is having on both business and customers, and what professionals can do to help ride out the storm.

Woolley & Co organised the event to bring together independent financial advisers, mortgage brokers, corporate finance experts, divorce coaches, counsellors and pensions advisors, as well as family law experts, in one room to discuss closer working to our mutual benefit.

“We wanted to look at the impact of the credit crunch on our respective clients and how we might work more effectively together to improve our services to clients and for mutual benefit,” said Andrew Woolley, Managing Partner of Woolley & Co, experts in family law since 1996.

“Our professions complement each other. When we are speaking with a client going through a divorce or separation, we can handle the legal side of things but they may need an IFA to help them sort out the finances, a counsellor to get through things emotionally and a mortgage broker to help them secure funds to buy a new home. By working with trusted partners, we can each recommend suitable professionals to our clients and ensure we are offering a comprehensive service to our clients.

“We found each of our businesses was being affected in a different way by the current economic situation but what is clear is that businesses these days are happier working together and realise they have to do this to help them ride out the current storm. This is something that was not happening in the last recession. It is now about looking at the bigger picture.”

Anyone who would be interested in attending a future lunch can contact Andrew Woolley by email here.

Coaching for a divorce

While going through her own divorce, Kirsten Gronning came to realise how much of a help it would be to have one person she could turn to not just to be a sympathetic listener but also to help her with what to do and where to go to get her through.

After picking her own way through the divorce minefield – and picking up some life coaching skills along the way – friends, and friends of friends, began looking to her for help with everything from recommending a family lawyer to helping them make decisions and embrace change.

Several years later and Kirsten has her own consultancy as a divorce coach, offering one-to-one bespoke telephone mentoring for people going through a relationship breakdown.

"It is about being there for people to talk to, raising their awareness of what they need to do and looking at the underlying issues to help give a person their confidence back and help them focus," said Kirsten, now a qualified life coach.

"I can show people their options and help them get back on track. I can also give very practical help and recommend, for instance, who to turn to for legal or financial help, through the contacts that I have built up, and guide them through the divorce process.

"Divorce coaching is relatively new in the UK and often I am not called on until someone is really stuck. It is much better for the client if I am involved earlier when they have more options open."

To find out more about Kirsten's work, visit www.divorcecoaching.co.uk/

Horses for divorces

A wife has been awarded £50,000 a year maintenance for her horses as part of a £1.5m divorce package in a landmark family law case that could spark bitter disputes over pets.

The woman, who has not been named, was awarded the annual sum after appeal judges agreed her three horses were a key part of her life.

They also ruled she should be given a lump sum of £900,000 from her ex-husband, a banker in the City, to allow her to buy a house with enough land for the animals.

The Woolley & Co family lawyers believe the case could break new ground in divorce cases with couples claiming maintenance for their pets, as well as themselves and their children.

To read the full story, visit the Daily Mail website here.

Settling disputes online

A lawyer has set up a website that he hopes will help prevent doorstep rows between divorcing parents.

Father-of-five Mike Smith, the founder of Durham Legal Services, hopes his Footprint service will help couples to avoid acrimonious arguments that could have an effect on their children.

For £75, the password-controlled system allows couples to log all contact arrangements in a virtual diary and then comment on any problems that arise.

Because nothing can be removed, it provides a warts-and-all record of contacts and confrontations.

The couple’s solicitors are also able to log on to the service, which aims to help couples that split sort out their child maintenance and contact problems themselves.

Mr Smith, 44, from Consett, County Durham, has spent four years and invested £70,000 on the software. More details on The Northern Echo website.

Divorce rates on the rise

A survey in fashion magazine Vogue has listed a divorce lawyer as the 13th most important ”must have” this autumn.

In its top 40 trends for the season, it says: "… the new best friend, a good divorce lawyer, cometh the credit crunch, cometh the great settlement."

The article is in response to growing evidence that divorce and separations are on the up as the financial gloom deepens.

Andrew Woolley, managing partner of Woolley & Co, said: “The inclusion of a divorce lawyer in the list is fairly incisive.

“While some firms have been reporting that there is no increase in couples looking to make a break-up permanent because they cannot afford to go it alone, we are finding the opposite.

“Couples who were perhaps having a trial separation or biding their time are now coming to us to get things moving. They need the house to be sold and the finances to be settled so they can move on and cope with funds being that much tighter.”

Family Law Team Expands in the Midlands

Woolley & Co’s success story continues with the addition of another experienced lawyer to the team.

Hot on the heels of two new family lawyers recruited in September, family lawyer Tania Martin started on 6th October.

Tania will work from her home office in Kenilworth, serving clients across Warwickshire and Solihull. She has a particular specialism in financial issues surrounding all areas of family law, as well as in helping parents with children issues arising from a relationship breakdown.

Tania lives in Kenilworth with her husband and their five-year-old daughter. If you would like to make contact with Tania you can email her here.

Pocket guide to divorce reprinted – again!

A second print run of the second edition of our Guide to Surviving Family Conflict and Divorce has been ordered after more than 2,000 copies were requested since it was launched earlier this year.

If you would like a copy of the guide, it can be downloaded in pdf form from www.family-lawfirm.co.uk, or ordered via 0800 321 3832. But be quick!