Natalie Jenner and Barbara Littler, of Parslows, tell Emily Moore of the Jersey Evening Post why understanding and empathy is key to their discipline of family law
Advocate Natalie Jenner, managing partner, and Barbara Littler, senior associate and head of family law, at Parslows LLP
MOST people will have a handful of “significant” dates engrained in their memories. But, while most of us will remember anniversaries or birthdays of loved ones, fewer of us are likely to recall the dates on which professional milestones took place.
Natalie Jenner and Barbara Littler, though, have no difficulty in citing the exact dates on which they celebrated key career milestones.
“I was sworn in as a Jersey lawyer one Halloween,” smiled Natalie, who became managing partner at Parslows when the firm became a limited liability partnership last September.
“And I qualified as an English solicitor on April Fool’s Day 2015,” said Barbara, who is the firm’s head of family law.
But while both women share a love of family law, their routes into the profession were very different.
Having “fallen into law by accident”, Natalie started out in personal law before switching disciplines.
“I worked for a really small firm during what was initially intended to be something of a ‘gap year’ before going back to the UK,” explained the former Grainville and Hautlieu student.
“But, after starting on reception, I worked my way up and became involved with some of the high-profile criminal cases on which the firm was working. My interest was instantly captured and I started studying for my graduate diploma in law while working full-time.”
Having gained that qualification and while preparing to undertake the Jersey law course, Natalie joined another Island firm where she was quickly “immersed” in the world of family law.
“I gained a huge amount of experience dealing with both private and public law family matters and it was during that time that I worked against Carl Parslow [the founder of Parslows] on a case,” she recalled. “When I saw that he had set up his own firm, I applied for an interview with him.”
That was 12 years ago and, after a whirlwind couple of days in which Natalie completed her last Jersey law exams the day before her interview with Carl, she joined Parslows where she was responsible for “driving forward the firm’s personal law offering”.
“In those days, the firm was very much in its infancy but it has steadily grown over the years.
“With the firm now being a limited liability partnership, the new company structure is designed to support growth for the firm.
“We currently have 12 members of staff, including three partners who are all advocates, two English solicitors (non-practising) and three conveyancers. Between us, we specialise in property, business law, family law and litigation,” she explained.
One of the newer recruits, Barbara joined the team last year, having started her career as a legal assistant in the family team of another Jersey law firm around 12 years ago.
“Unlike Natalie, I had a long-held dream to work in law,” she said, crediting the television series Perry Mason with triggering her fascination with the profession.
“I was fascinated by that show and, once I’d got over the dream of becoming an Olympic athlete [said tongue in cheek], I became fixed on law,” explained the former Beaulieu student. “At that point, I didn’t know which area of law I wanted to enter but, after completing my Legal Practice Course at the College (now University) of Law (York), I knew that I wanted to work with people rather than corporations.
“Funnily enough, when I came back to Jersey in 2012, the job I took was probably the one Natalie had left when she joined Parslows.”
Now working together, having gained experience in different firms, both women agree that Parslows has a unique approach when it comes to client work.
“What sets us apart is that it is the lawyer who looks after every case,” said Natalie. “Files are not passed to assistants to manage, so your lawyer is the person who handles your case from start to finish. This direct approach, where you deal with the expert consistently throughout your matter, reinforces our commitment to supporting our clients and getting them to the point they need to reach as quickly, painlessly and cost-effectively as possible.”
“It’s an approach which really benefits the client because, by the time you get to the hearing/settlement process, your lawyer knows your file inside out,” added Barbara. “Not only does this mean that we have absorbed all your information but it also enables us to think several steps ahead and progress cases, while preventing or minimising the tensions.”
With many family law cases centring around divorce, the dissolution of civil relationships and care and financial arrangements for children, it is unsurprising that clients’ emotions can often run high. As the women say: “Family law can be a difficult area of law, as it is emotional for clients as they are often at their most vulnerable and frustrations can therefore be heightened.”
“A lot of people who come to us are going through one of the most difficult times of their lives and there can be a tendency to pour everything onto their lawyer,” said Barbara.
“I see one of my roles as being the person who can take the emotion out of an issue to help my clients see the solution to the problem, something many clients cannot do by themselves following their separation. I believe the key to being a good family lawyer is to be understanding and empathetic, without becoming emotionally involved in your client’s life.
“In most cases, whatever happened to contribute to the breakdown of the relationship has very little relevance to the outcome that we are trying to achieve. You therefore need to stay calm and measured and pass that down to the client.”
Ultimately, the women say, being a lawyer is focused on problem-solving.
“Someone comes to you with a problem and your job is to unpick that problem and help them to come out the other side,” Barbara added.
“To do that, though, you need to be analytical and flexible in your thinking. You also have to be willing to see things from different perspectives. It is easy, particularly when you first start out, to act quickly and be reactive to sharper communications from the other party or to send emails to the other lawyer saying: ‘My client has instructed me x y z.’ Experience shows you, though, that if you step back and become an effective filter, especially for your clients, you can often resolve cases more quickly and achieve a better end relationship for them with the other party, which is especially important when there are children involved.”
Also helping to achieve this, says Natalie, is the development of relationships with other lawyers.
“Having good relationships with colleagues within the industry is greatly beneficial to clients, as you can pick up the phone and have a frank conversation with the lawyer representing the other party,” she said. “Being able to say ‘how do we get over this hurdle?’ is so much better for everyone involved than getting bogged down in minutiae.
“This comes back to our ethos of getting people from A to B as quickly, painlessly and cost-efficiently as possible. We understand that lawyers can have a reputation for making things worse or for being out for the money but we are not like that. In fact, if you were to ask both of us why we chose to practise family law, it is because we like to help people and it is seeing the changes in many of our clients, from when they first come to see us for an initial consultation to the end, which gives us both the greatest satisfaction.”
Natalie Jenner and Barbara Littler, of Parslows, tell Emily Moore of the Jersey Evening Post why understanding and empathy is key to their discipline of family law
Advocate Natalie Jenner, managing partner, and Barbara Littler, senior associate and head of family law, at Parslows LLP
MOST people will have a handful of “significant” dates engrained in their memories. But, while most of us will remember anniversaries or birthdays of loved ones, fewer of us are likely to recall the dates on which professional milestones took place.
Natalie Jenner and Barbara Littler, though, have no difficulty in citing the exact dates on which they celebrated key career milestones.
“I was sworn in as a Jersey lawyer one Halloween,” smiled Natalie, who became managing partner at Parslows when the firm became a limited liability partnership last September.
“And I qualified as an English solicitor on April Fool’s Day 2015,” said Barbara, who is the firm’s head of family law.
But while both women share a love of family law, their routes into the profession were very different.
Having “fallen into law by accident”, Natalie started out in personal law before switching disciplines.
“I worked for a really small firm during what was initially intended to be something of a ‘gap year’ before going back to the UK,” explained the former Grainville and Hautlieu student.
“But, after starting on reception, I worked my way up and became involved with some of the high-profile criminal cases on which the firm was working. My interest was instantly captured and I started studying for my graduate diploma in law while working full-time.”
Having gained that qualification and while preparing to undertake the Jersey law course, Natalie joined another Island firm where she was quickly “immersed” in the world of family law.
“I gained a huge amount of experience dealing with both private and public law family matters and it was during that time that I worked against Carl Parslow [the founder of Parslows] on a case,” she recalled. “When I saw that he had set up his own firm, I applied for an interview with him.”
That was 12 years ago and, after a whirlwind couple of days in which Natalie completed her last Jersey law exams the day before her interview with Carl, she joined Parslows where she was responsible for “driving forward the firm’s personal law offering”.
“In those days, the firm was very much in its infancy but it has steadily grown over the years.
“With the firm now being a limited liability partnership, the new company structure is designed to support growth for the firm.
“We currently have 12 members of staff, including three partners who are all advocates, two English solicitors (non-practising) and three conveyancers. Between us, we specialise in property, business law, family law and litigation,” she explained.
One of the newer recruits, Barbara joined the team last year, having started her career as a legal assistant in the family team of another Jersey law firm around 12 years ago.
“Unlike Natalie, I had a long-held dream to work in law,” she said, crediting the television series Perry Mason with triggering her fascination with the profession.
“I was fascinated by that show and, once I’d got over the dream of becoming an Olympic athlete [said tongue in cheek], I became fixed on law,” explained the former Beaulieu student. “At that point, I didn’t know which area of law I wanted to enter but, after completing my Legal Practice Course at the College (now University) of Law (York), I knew that I wanted to work with people rather than corporations.
“Funnily enough, when I came back to Jersey in 2012, the job I took was probably the one Natalie had left when she joined Parslows.”
Now working together, having gained experience in different firms, both women agree that Parslows has a unique approach when it comes to client work.
“What sets us apart is that it is the lawyer who looks after every case,” said Natalie. “Files are not passed to assistants to manage, so your lawyer is the person who handles your case from start to finish. This direct approach, where you deal with the expert consistently throughout your matter, reinforces our commitment to supporting our clients and getting them to the point they need to reach as quickly, painlessly and cost-effectively as possible.”
“It’s an approach which really benefits the client because, by the time you get to the hearing/settlement process, your lawyer knows your file inside out,” added Barbara. “Not only does this mean that we have absorbed all your information but it also enables us to think several steps ahead and progress cases, while preventing or minimising the tensions.”
With many family law cases centring around divorce, the dissolution of civil relationships and care and financial arrangements for children, it is unsurprising that clients’ emotions can often run high. As the women say: “Family law can be a difficult area of law, as it is emotional for clients as they are often at their most vulnerable and frustrations can therefore be heightened.”
“A lot of people who come to us are going through one of the most difficult times of their lives and there can be a tendency to pour everything onto their lawyer,” said Barbara.
“I see one of my roles as being the person who can take the emotion out of an issue to help my clients see the solution to the problem, something many clients cannot do by themselves following their separation. I believe the key to being a good family lawyer is to be understanding and empathetic, without becoming emotionally involved in your client’s life.
“In most cases, whatever happened to contribute to the breakdown of the relationship has very little relevance to the outcome that we are trying to achieve. You therefore need to stay calm and measured and pass that down to the client.”
Ultimately, the women say, being a lawyer is focused on problem-solving.
“Someone comes to you with a problem and your job is to unpick that problem and help them to come out the other side,” Barbara added.
“To do that, though, you need to be analytical and flexible in your thinking. You also have to be willing to see things from different perspectives. It is easy, particularly when you first start out, to act quickly and be reactive to sharper communications from the other party or to send emails to the other lawyer saying: ‘My client has instructed me x y z.’ Experience shows you, though, that if you step back and become an effective filter, especially for your clients, you can often resolve cases more quickly and achieve a better end relationship for them with the other party, which is especially important when there are children involved.”
Also helping to achieve this, says Natalie, is the development of relationships with other lawyers.
“Having good relationships with colleagues within the industry is greatly beneficial to clients, as you can pick up the phone and have a frank conversation with the lawyer representing the other party,” she said. “Being able to say ‘how do we get over this hurdle?’ is so much better for everyone involved than getting bogged down in minutiae.
“This comes back to our ethos of getting people from A to B as quickly, painlessly and cost-efficiently as possible. We understand that lawyers can have a reputation for making things worse or for being out for the money but we are not like that. In fact, if you were to ask both of us why we chose to practise family law, it is because we like to help people and it is seeing the changes in many of our clients, from when they first come to see us for an initial consultation to the end, which gives us both the greatest satisfaction.”