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Gregorian Emerson Family Law Solicitors is a law firm specialising in family law cases, particularly those involving children which is unique in the market place and has a consistent record of success for fathers in Leave to Remove cases.

Please find below the latest events at Gregorian Emerson, Solicitors

19.11.08

Richard Gregorian from Gregorian Emerson Solicitors gives an expert's talk to MP's committee at the Houses of Parliament. The presentation advised MP's on leave to remove cases and the family justice system.



18.11.08-Press release

Don’t give up hope Guy(s) on your children!

It has been reported that Guy Ritchie is facing an application by Madonna to relocate their children to the US

Only 10% of fathers successfully defend applications by the mother to permanently emigrate with the children after separation (otherwise called Leave to Remove cases)


Introduction

After those cases involving children that hit the headlines through their death, serious injury or being wrongfully taken into local authority care, Leave to Remove cases are perhaps the most draconian for fathers. This has particular relevance to Guy Ritchie’s
forthcoming battle with Madonna.

The Family Courts routinely permit mothers to leave the country with the children after separation, leaving fathers at best to become “Disneyland Dads” seeing their children perhaps once or twice a year (perhaps for as little as a few hours at a time). Mothers and their legal teams invariably denigrate the father in the Courts to win such applications. If successful, mothers frequently project their own negative views about the father onto the children to validate their decision to exclude him from their lives. This can, of course, occur when it is the father applying for Leave to Remove, albeit this is rare.

The Problem

Why family lawyers add to the problem? Typically, they will:

Advise a father on their low chances of a successful defence before fully understanding all aspects of the case – often within the first hour of meeting him.

As their training dictates, rely solely on the legal precedents set by previous cases and use those precedents to pre-empt the outcome thereby conditioning the father for failure. Precedent only reports on what may have been the right result for that family and their unique circumstances, with those children at that time in their lives – and should not be used as a formula for judging a new case.

Be unable to develop a suitable framework other than to report the facts of the case resulting in a “he says, she says” exchange of allegations, denials and counter-allegations. This, in turn, is a very unhelpful distraction to the Judge to remain child centric.

The Solution

We believe that Guy Ritchie’s chances of success revolve around some fundamental elements:

His position to the Court must always be child-centric and not caught up within the “tit for tac” squabbles that occur within a marriage breakdown

His case and his family circumstances are unique, as are every other father’s and his case, therefore, should be presented in that way.

This can only be achieved by looking beyond the legal precedents and understanding the psychological and emotional needs of both parents but, primarily, the children. This involves careful scrutiny of each parent’s behaviour to establish that they are acting in the children’s best interests and not in reaction to the hostility caused by the divorce as well as looking at the psychological impact on the children and managing this in order to affect the most positive outcome for all parties.

Therefore, the legal team working on behalf of Guy Ritchie need to have an indepth understanding of the psychological principles behind the case to distinguish it from any other.

Richard Gregorian, a family solicitor with a background in commercial law and a vast personal experience of Leave to Remove, says “It is vital that family lawyers advise their clients to think outside the pre-existing legal framework as it is evident that the successful outcome for children is being restricted by a legalistic “can’t do” approach which would be unacceptable in any other type of law. I advocate a “can do” approach that empowers the client and enables him to demonstrate a child centric position in the Family Courts by adopting a strategy based upon the unique psychology behind his case. “

18.09.08

Our website has been recently re-designed, if you have any comments please get in touch with us via the contact page, we would love to hear any feedback you have to comment on.

11.07.08

Please download a PDF version of the "Choosing and Using a Solicitor" article written by Richard Gregorian for a major parenting charity. Also see version below.

19.05.08

Please download a PDF version of the "Leave to Remove: A Lawyer’s All Too Personal View” article written by Richard Gregorian. This article appeared in Family Law Week on 19th May 2008.

© Richard Gregorian 2008. No copying of all or any part of this paper is permitted without the author’s express written consent.