Chrissie Cuming Walters

Keystone Law -

Interview

Chrissie Cuming Walters is a dual-qualified solicitor and US attorney who specialises in family law. She also has extensive expertise in the financial issues arising from relationship breakdowns, and worked in the offices of the general counsel in a multinational brokerage house and a securities regulation think tank prior to embarking on her career in family law.

In addition to spouses and partners, Chrissie also regularly acts for cohabitees on relationship breakdown, especially in cases that involve property interests. She is often called to advise on the application of the ToLATA in cases where a partner’s ownership or rights in a property has not been recorded.

Chrissie and has dealt with the courts at all levels, including the UK supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. She regularly deals injunctions with cases involving domestic abuse.

Where appropriate, Chrissie is able to guide clients through the alternative dispute resolution process and provide assistance in negotiations. If unavoidable, she can call upon a wealth of experience as a trained litigator and advocate.

Please tell us a little about your career as a lawyer.

I have always been a lawyer, despite a few short career breaks for personal reasons and a few changes to my areas of practice. My career in law will soon span two decades, two countries and four states. I originally practised corporate and commercial law, including white collar crime, and later moved into pharmaceutical defence litigation. However, after I represented myself in my own no-fault divorce, I knew I had found the area in which I wanted to practice and where I could truly make a difference. When I came to this jurisdiction from the US, I qualified as a solicitor here and have since only practised family law. I’ve never looked back.

How do you help your clients to navigate complex financial settlements?

The easiest way to navigate complex financial settlements is often, in fact, the most difficult. It comes with helping the client to be able to look at what can be a highly charged and emotional time as more of a business transaction. This is because when one can look at it as a balance sheet exercise and remove the myriad of emotions surrounding those figures, then it can become a lot clearer as to what may need to move where in order to achieve a fair outcome, an equality of income, or indeed meet the needs of any minor children, as may be the case. It is quite often the emotion which makes reaching a financial settlement more complex, rather than the financial structures or mechanisms themselves.

What key steps do you turn to help these clients ensure their divorce proceeds smoothly?

I try to approach each client as an individual and look at their individual needs, which can also include maintaining their mental health or recognising their emotional needs as they reach the different stages of their divorce or separation process. Maintaining emotional and mental health through a divorce is important for everyone, but it can be particularly important where you are the less financially secure party.

Overall, I take a holistic approach in relation to any other professionals who may need to be drawn into the process, such as counsellors or coaches and independent financial advisers, depending on the circumstances of the case and again the needs of the particular client. I endeavour at all times to enable my clients to feel informed and empowered throughout the process, which I think, in turn, makes it somewhat easier for them. They understand the strategy, they understand why we are doing what we are doing, and they understand what it is that I am trying to achieve for them.

Do you have a criteria in which you judge your success in your work?

I think I probably did when I was a younger lawyer. I have to be honest and say no. I do feel that, overall, I am successful in my career, but I cannot say that there’s been any sort of identifiable measurement by which I have reached that conclusion. It is not an attainment of status. It is not an attainment of awards. It is not in attainment of monetary reward. But it is more of a feeling of contentment in myself, which has come over time and become increasingly prevalent in recent years.

Is there a particular creed or philosophy that informs your practise as a lawyer?

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been” – George Eliott.

If you select a career achievement that you are most proud of having reached, what would it be?

I do not think that there is one clear achievement. I have been successful in the Supreme Court; I have been successful in the Court of Appeal. I think that maybe that is what most people would consider as being an achievement to be most proud of, like being in the directories and what have you. But for me personally, it is when the client says thank you. It is when we have reached the end of the process, whether through court or otherwise, and there is true gratitude towards what I have helped them accomplish and the future that they can now see and look forward to – which I have been a part of helping them create for themselves and their children. I am proud of that.

What does this award mean to you?

For me, this award is more meaningful because it is for women in law. Women continue to be highly underrepresented in most professions and in leadership roles and, indeed, it is generally women who end up having to fight that bit harder and be that bit stronger in order to achieve what they need through the divorce or separation. Even though my client base tends to be 50% men and 50% women, in my experience, it is the women who come out the other side as someone different than when they went into the process – hopefully stronger, more confident, and independent. For me, being a recipient of this award demonstrates not only that women can and do achieve but also what we are all doing to try to help create and recognise real equality not only in the legal profession but also in this jurisdiction.