Marguerite Picard

Director &  founder, MELCA

Collaborative divorce and family lawyer

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Marguerite Picard is a collaborative family lawyer who thinks about divorce and all kinds of interpersonal disputes as problems best resolved by building common ground, rather than letting ‘law’ drive people further apart. She talks with me about her human-centred approach, how she looks for answers beyond the law and works with a team of psychologists, financial planners and other non-lawyers to bring a human touch to divorce and family disputes.

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Bio

Show notes

Links

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Bio:

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Marguerite Picard is a director of MELCA, which is a one-stop-collaborative-divorce-shop. MELCA is a thought leader in all things divorce and interdisciplinary practice. MELCA's documentary ‘Family is Family’ in which a number of wise souls speak about the many benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to divorce, sums up her approach. MELCA has won many awards and accolades and as of 2021 has offices in Brisbane and Sydney in addition to its Melbourne office.

Marguerite co-wrote, "Breaking Up Without Breaking Down", which talks about how a constructive approach to divorce pays dividends for everyone in a family. The central message of the book is about choosing your advisors wisely from the get-go, to avoid deepening conflict. It’s now in its third reprinting.

Marguerite's second business is Smart Separation. It was set up to give people a ‘diagnosis’, an action plan, referrals and some of the wisdom of my long years in practice. It is backed by the Smart Circle, her trusted network of professional associates built up through her legal lifetime.

 

Marguerite is also an Accredited Specialist Family Lawyer, Collaborative Practitioner, Mediator, Arbitrator and Collaborative Trainer. Before focussing on family law some 20 years ago, she worked in criminal law, property and commercial, and wills and estates.

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Show notes:

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• [02:17] Marguerite talks about discovering collaborative practice and realising she could work with non-legal experts to deliver a better result for clients from traditional litigation.

• [05:09] We talk about law and relationships. Law touches everything including relationships but lawyers claim territory in the realm of interpersonal relationships which we aren't trained for.

• [07:54] Collaborative law promotes deep, actual resolution.

• [10:25] We discuss MELCA's excellent documentary 'Family is Family' and how collaborative divorce law dramatically improves outcomes for children.  

• [16:35] Lawyers can lead in the kind of innovation which improves things like access to justice, using our experience as a guide to what serves clients better.

• [19:11] Marguerite explains how mediation as it is currently practised often does not offer clients solutions that allow them to express their views, as it is often driven by trying to meet two positions in the centre. 

• [24:56] Marguerite gives us insight into how coming from a large family gave her an appreciation for resolving conflict in a way that serves justice.

• [30:50] Marguerite talks about how important it is to believe in your instincts and make bold change.

• [35:27] The pandemic has given us the opportunity to see that change is possible. 

• [36:48] Marguerite's exciting new project is a 4-part documentary series that will reinvent the whole idea of separation from a human-centred design perspective.

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Links:

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MELCA:  www.melca.com.au

Smart Separation: www.smartseparation.com.au

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'Family is Family' documentary produced by MELCA

'Breaking Up Without Breaking Down: Preserving your wealth, your health and your family', authored by Dr Tina Sinclair, Tricia Peters & Marguerite Picard 

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Pauline Tesler, director of the Integrative Law Institute and collaborative law pioneer

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Final report to the Family Court of Australia on The Children's Cases Pilot Project, by Jennifer McIntosh Ph.D, March 2006