Getting to Know…Alexandra King & Mary Korkidas, LEDA Lawyers

Meet Alexandra King & Mary Korkidas 

Mother and daughter and lawyers at LEDA Lawyers

Alexandra King and Mary Korkidas share a special relationship. Not only are they mother and daughter but both are lawyers at LEDA Lawyers, a family-run law firm operating for over 20 years in Burwood. We caught up with Alexandra and Mary to understand more about collaborative family law and the benefits of this unique approach for families and couples, including those considering separation or divorce.

🌟 Tell us a bit about yourself. 

Mary: We are a family business in that Alexandra and I are mother and daughter as well as colleagues. Sharing the same profession has been wonderful and has brought us closer – but what has been even better has been the addition of a granddaughter who has already said she wants to follow in our footsteps, even though she doesn’t understand what a lawyer does!

🌟 What inspired you to start LEDA Lawyers? How does your background inform your approach to legal consultancy, particularly in family law?

Alexandra: I think we approach it with a lot of understanding. My personal experience with family law after my own separation is what motivated me to explore a kinder alternative and which led me to discover collaborative family law. The devastation and upheaval of a marriage breakdown involving a very young child demonstrated how difficult the traditional family law process can be.

 Although we used a wonderful mediator, even the mediation sessions felt adversarial as the threat of court was hanging over our heads. Being locked in gruelling mediations for five hours straight with no lunch breaks until we reached some form of agreement felt like survival of the fittest. In a case of turning lemons into lemonade, however, this was the inspiration for our firm’s re-launch and renewed focus on resolving family law disputes outside of court.

🌟 What is collaborative family law? Why is this approach unique and what are the benefits for couples who are separating or divorcing?

Mary & Alexandra: Collaborative family law takes the best aspects of both traditional family law and alternative dispute resolution pathways like mediation and reconfigures it into a legal process that is calmer, more efficient, and more cost-effective.

The traditional legal system is typically combative and so that is how lawyers are trained to approach traditional family law – as a battle where one side “wins” and one side “loses” (even when lawyers say they will work “collaboratively”!).

No matter how well-intentioned everyone is, due to the nature of traditional family matters can get dragged into court. And we all know that fighting in court can be highly traumatic for the whole family as well as time-consuming and expensive.

Collaborative family law is unique because lawyers undertake additional training to become certified in collaborative law. We’re trained to assist the couple to reach a win-win agreement on their issues in an amicable way, with the interests of the family being the focus. Our role is to diffuse conflict and to work with the couple and the other lawyer to reach a mutually beneficial outcome. The parties (the couple and their lawyers) make a commitment in writing to treat each other respectfully and not take the matter to court.

At the end of the process, the couple still ends up with a set of legally binding documents setting out the terms of their agreement, without the need to go to court. It’s also a bespoke pathway – the couple retain control of the process and the outcome and often this results in more creative solutions that would not have been possible in traditional family law.

🌟 With the recent changes in family law regarding children, what do you see as the most significant impacts for parents navigating custody and support arrangements?

Mary & Alexandra: New laws came into effect this year affecting how much time children should spend with each parent after separation. Under the old law the court generally had to start from the premise that children should spend equal time with each parent. Some argued that this approach focused too much attention on the parent’s interests instead of the children’s interests. Under the new laws, however, the court will now start from the premise of what is in the best interests of that child and ensuring the safety of the child, without being constrained by concepts such as “equal time” or “substantial and significant time” in making their decision.

🌟 What are some of the other legal services you offer that cater to families and why these are important?

Mary & Alexandra: Keeping families out of court is not just a tagline for us. We strive for this in family law, but also in helping families through our conveyancing and wills, estates and probate services. Of particular importance for families is to have arrangements in place to ensure the protection of their family members in the event of death, illness or serious injury. Having a will, power of attorney and appointment of enduring guardian in place sets out a person’s wishes on how they would like everything to be taken care of if such a situation were to arise. This reduces the likelihood for conflict and helps family members navigate a path in times of grief or stress.

🌟 What differentiates LEDA Lawyers from other family law practices?

Mary: I believe we are the only family law firm in Sydney that is a purely settlement practice – we won’t take your matter to court. Other firms might offer collaborative family law as an option, but their main practice area is traditional family law, and others say they will simply “work collaboratively” but aren’t certified in the collaborative process, so it can get confusing for someone searching for a family lawyer. Our commitment to keep families out of the court system highlights how much we believe in collaborative family law as the better pathway.

We also draft and/or review and advise on agreements that couples have reached themselves, such as binding financial agreements, child support agreements and spousal maintenance agreements.

🌟 Can you share a success story that highlights how LEDA Lawyers has positively helped a family? 

Mary & Alexandra: For privacy reasons, I think the best way to explain how collaborative family law system helps families is via a parable we learnt during our collaborative training: Two siblings were in the kitchen fighting over the last orange. Fed up with the bickering, their mum walked in, sliced the orange in half, and gave one half to each of her children, thinking she had solved the problem. The mum then noticed both children were unhappy and questioned why. One child explained that she needed the juice of one orange for a science experiment, while the other child explained that he needed the rind of one orange for a recipe. Only then did the mum realise that she could have solved both her children’s problems using the one orange, had she just asked why before jumping to the wrong “solution”.

Asking why and finding real solutions – not just focusing on percentage splits in property and parenting – is the positive impact collaborative family law offers.

🌟 What trends do you foresee in family law that parents should be aware of, particularly following the recent reforms?

Alexandra: In the court space, I predict a more common-sense approach regarding parenting matters will now prevail, with the recognition that a child’s time cannot simply be split in half and it’s assumed that will result in the best outcome for the child. I think there will be a renewed focus on the needs of the particular child in question.

More broadly, there is a growing awareness of the alternative dispute resolution pathways available to couples and families. I think this was highlighted 10 years ago with Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling” movement, which collaborative family law complements really well with regards to the legal aspects of separation and divorce. I believe the appetite for more holistic and healthier ways to separate and navigate the legal, emotional and practical elements involved is only going to expand. We see this in collaborative family law and the emergence of divorce coaches, parenting co-ordinators and child experts with whom we work alongside.

🌟 What core values guide your practice at LEDA Lawyers, and how do they shape your interactions with clients, especially in light of the changes affecting family law?

Alexandra: It’s a myth that you need a “shark” lawyer to represent you in family law to get the best outcome. Collaborative family law is a smarter option, not a “soft” one. Calm, skilled negotiation together with a deep knowledge of the law is key to delivering the best outcomes for our clients. We are driven by getting to the “why” behind an issue, which clears the path towards a resolution. We also value preserving relationships as much as possible, particularly where parties need to co-parent into the future.

Mary: To try to make the best out of a difficult situation. Separation is devastating for both the couple and the children and no model or process (legal or otherwise) will make it easy or pleasant. Using the collaborative family law process as opposed to traditional family law process makes it better.

🌟 What’s one thing you’d love women to know about marriage, separation or divorce from a family law perspective that you think would help them avoid issues in the future?

Alexandra: Although very difficult (and a little cliché!), when going through a separation it really is best to look forward instead of backwards. Focus on what you would like your new life to look like in the future, and what you need to do to achieve this. It will help you get a better outcome in relation to how the new family arrangement will work for you, your children and even your former spouse in a co-parenting situation. And document everything! 😊

Want to discuss your family law needs? Reach out to Alexandra King and Mary Korkidas at LEDA Lawyers.

LEDA Lawyers

Location: Level 7, 74-76 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134
Phone: (02) 8528 7590
Email: alexandra@ledalawyers.com.au  / mary@ledalawyers.com.au
Website: www.ledalawyers.com.au

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