Zen Thompson

Solicitor

Biography: I have been a family solicitor for 26 years and have had a lot of experience of representing clients through the court process. I have found that collaborative law can be a much more constructive process, enabling the parties to retain control over the process and timetable and the options for outcome. With court, control is given to the Judge to determine how the issues are looked at and what the outcome will be. In collaborative law, the parties remain in the driving seat and are able to find an outcome with the support and benefit of legal advice throughout. In my experience, the outcomes reached in collaborative law are likely to be more long-lasting and less likely to need enforcing, providing more certainty and more cost-effective.
I have developed many skills which I bring to collaborative law from my training and experience of court proceedings including advocacy, negotiation and problem-solving skills from my experience as a family and civil mediator, and ability to work constructively with others and ability to explain the law clearly and in a constructive way from my training as an arbitrator.