Edgar Paltzer
Attorney-at-law
Legal Coaching
Legal coaching, a relatively new concept within the field of family law, can help those who have decided to act for themselves in a matter of family law. As a type of unbundled legal service, legal coaching may be helpful for people negotiating or mediating a family law matter or those in family court who can’t afford (or are unwilling) to spend their funds on a lawyer to take care of their entire case. A legal coach – such as Edgar Paltzer – can offer their clients assistance, information, practical tips and strategic advice to be more persuasive when presenting their case.
What Is Included in Legal Coaching?
While it depends on the individual case, legal coaching may incorporate independent legal advice, commissioning and notarising of documents, preparation of an adoptions package, and preparation of affidavits, applications, court orders and legal briefs. It can also include tips and preparation for court, meditation or arbitration, assistance with legal research, preparation of case law and arguments for the matter, and reviewing and analysing court documents.
Legal coaching can help with child support calculations and spousal support analysis and calculations; it can also help with understanding documents for an individual’s application and filing relevant documents with the courts.
Who Might Benefit from Legal Coaching?
Legal coaching may be especially useful to those who have never been in family court before and are therefore unsure what’s going to happen and when, as well as those who are unsure whether they’ve completed the correct forms in the best way possible. Those who feel they aren’t good at speaking in public may also choose to use the services of a legal coach, as may those who feel intimidated at the prospect of dealing with the other side’s lawyer or anxious that their nerves may result in them leaving out something important.
The Benefits of Legal Coaching
There are many benefits to legal coaching, including self-awareness. Self-represented litigants often find it a challenge to understand the different individuals involved in the process, the part they play and their likely perspective on the case. By gaining awareness of the interests of the other parties in the matter, the litigant can better assess what could influence their achieving a positive outcome and take action as a result.
Legal coaching is also helpful regarding goal setting, ensuring these are achievable and realistic, and can assist litigants in developing better communication skills to argue their case more effectively in court. By increasing the litigant’s confidence, legal coaching can help them to better organise the material of their case, present it with clarity and more clearly understand their goals.
Many litigants find that using the services of a legal coach takes a great deal of the stress out of the legal process and is helpful when it comes to navigating emotional issues with more objectivity. Finally, hiring a legal coach can result in potentially saving money on legal fees.
What Does Legal Coaching Not Involve?
When assessing whether or not to access the services of a legal coach, it’s important to bear in mind that legal coaches don’t provide therapy. Rather than dealing with the past, coaching maintains a focus on the future and the achievement of a specific legal outcome. It’s also not consulting, meaning that legal coaching isn’t just about an expert coming up with a solution; it also involves the coach actively participating in improving their clients’ performance to implement the identified solution.
Furthermore, legal coaching is not training: it’s designed purely to enhance the litigant’s skills with a view to achieving a specific outcome rather than teaching an individual how to be a lawyer.
