Mediation | Family Law Lawyers | Family Dispute Resolution

After 30 years in practice, and time spent as a partner in two of Melbourne’s top 100 law Firms, Catherine Gale has founded her own family law practice specialising in helping couples resolve their family law issues without going to Court.

Issues are resolved co-operatively through the use of Collaborative Law, Constructive Negotiation and Mediation.

The practice is comprehensive and focuses on all aspects of divorce, separation, parenting plans, division of assets, child support, pre-nuptial agreements, and inter-family relationships. Read More about Cathy’s professional experience.

Collaborative Law is a new option for divorcing couples to resolve their disputes respectfully and privately.

Constructive Negotiation is a process where a couple reaches agreement assisted by their lawyers through an exchange of information, correspondence and round table meetings.

Mediation involves mutual decision making with the help of a neutral third party, professional mediator.

As a Family Lawyer who is committed to non-adversarial decision making Cathy takes time to understand her clients’ concerns to help them reach a positive outcome without having to pay the emotional and financial price of a protracted Court battle.

By using effective, non adversarial processes such as Collaborative law, Constructive Negotiation and Mediation, clients are positioned to develop creative solutions which meet their needs and those of their families, solutions that would never be available to them in a Court process.

They are better positioned to move ahead with their lives and where there are children involved, to continue to effectively co-parent their children.

Achieving what is important to the client

“ By focussing on my client’s needs and interests, I am much better placed to develop creative, flexible legal solutions to meet the family’s needs than if I was to represent my client in the more usual way, simply focussing on legal entitlements often at the expense of the family and the individuals within it.......... I understand that most clients want to do the best for their children and are looking for a fair financial adjustment. The use of alternative dispute resolution practices enables me to deliver an outcome to the client more quickly and with less financial and emotional cost"

Kathy Cavenagh is our practice manager. She will generally be your first point of contact with the Firm.

Kathy has many years experience working in medical practices and is therefore used to dealing with people needing to seek advice about important life issues.
Kathy will advise you about what to bring to the first interview, and is available to answer preliminary questions about how to proceed.