YRes National Conference: Good For Business - Good For You

Yesterday I travelled to London for the National YRes Conference. This week saw the re-launch of our regional Dorset YRes group with great success and I was looking forward to meeting with other YRes members from across the country. The theme of the day was “Good for Business – Good for You” and we heard from many fantastic and relatable family law professionals. For me, there were two key threads of the day; the value of ‘finding your tribe’ and the importance of our individual wellbeing as family practitioners.

Following an opening address from Margaret Heathcote, Ashley Boroda gave us a fascinating talk on the iMA communication style and how we as practitioners can find out more about our individual style. He explained how understanding this can help us to communicate with clients and colleagues. You can visit https://ima-ashleyboroda.com/ to find out what your communication style is – I am a high yellow which explains a lot!

We then heard from a panel of family law professionals about their different career paths and their strengths, weaknesses and advice for forging a future in family law. It was great to hear about the different careers they have forged that stray away from the traditional route and it certainly gave us food for thought.

After lunch, Sir Andrew McFarlane gave an inspiring keynote speech in which he talked about the developments in the family courts and the importance of family lawyers taking care of themselves. This theme was carried through into a panel discussion on wellbeing. Members of the panel shared intimate stories of their own struggles and gave us tips and tricks for looking after ourselves. We were reminded that when an aeroplane is in difficulty, we are told to put on our own oxygen masks before helping others. This is an excellent reminder that we cannot help our clients if we are not looking after ourselves and that work/life balance is vital.

The final panel discussion looked forward to 2030 and the alternative dispute resolution options that will be even more important if the family court is closed for business. It was great to hear more about mediation, collaborative law, private FDRs and arbitrations from practitioners who deal with them regularly. If we can begin to use these alternative methods now, we can expand our own horizons and provide our clients with more routes to reaching resolutions.

Following the closing remarks, networking drinks gave us the opportunity to catch up with old friends and discuss the day with new ones. The conference had touched upon how lonely the work we do as family law professionals can be and how much it can affect our wellbeing. Attending the YRes National Conference was a welcome reminder that we are not alone. By championing and supporting one another, we can weather the storms and do our best for ourselves and our clients now and in the future.