Advocates Dawn Jones and Rose Kinrade have, for some time, considered that within DQ there is both the expertise and the resources to form a high quality Relationship Dispute Department so, during the last few months, work has been undertaken to create that team.
The ethos behind the department is to give clear legal advice to progress a client’s case efficiently, promptly and to be proactive in relation to family disputes, providing a professional, friendly and approachable service.
To achieve this, DQ has ensured it has the highest quality legal advice within the department. Dawn Jones has been qualified for more than 30 years, during which time she has regularly undertaken this type of work. Her experience is so wide-ranging, arguably there is no issue that could be put to her that she has not dealt with in the past.
In acting in the best interests of clients, the department will consider means of alternative dispute resolution, i.e. mediation and settlement, where appropriate. There will, nevertheless, be situations where resolution requires that an application be made to Court.
Dawn, a consultant at DQ, has extensive Court experience over a wide range of cases and has honed her skills in cross-examination. She is one of the leading senior advocates on Island in her areas of expertise.
Rose Kinrade, an associate in the department, has dealt with Relationship Disputes for clients of DQ for the last six years. Throughout that time, she has gained considerable expertise in dealing with this type of work.
Jessica Cocker is a trainee advocate who has been involved in the development of the department and is fully trained and capable of dealing with cases under the supervision of either Dawn or Rose. Jessica joined DQ in 2018 and is due to qualify later this year, unfortunately delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Support Staff within the Department are Emma Evans and Louise Kelly. Emma has been a legal secretary for 10 years and Dawn Jones’ Personal Assistant for the last two years, during that time developing an excellent expertise in dealing with the necessary preparation of documents to efficiently progress Relationship Dispute matters. Louise has been a legal secretary for over 20 years and has considerable experience in Relationship Dispute issues, in particular when she was personal assistant to Walter Wannenburgh, both at DQ and Cains.
There is a breadth of knowledge and expertise within DQ that can deal with any type of Relationship Dispute: such an offering is unique on Island.
In particular, but not exclusively, they have experience of divorce matters, child disputes, breakdown of non married relationships and civil partnerships. The team has a wealth of knowledge and experience in relation to property disputes between parties, whether they are married or unmarried. In addition, the team regularly works with other professionals within the firm, namely Annemarie Hughes (Private Client, Trusts and Pensions) and Greg Jones (Tax), particularly in respect of relationship disputes involving High Net Worth Individuals.
The advantage to the clients of such a large team is that DQ can offer a cost-effective service, where work is undertaken by the individual best suited to the task in hand (at all times with advocate approval). The whole ethos behind the department is that DQ has the ability to promptly act and deal with all Relationship Disputes, to manage client’s expectations from the start, be proactive and push matters through to a speedy conclusion.
