Clancy & Triado

"After being referred to Clancy & Triado as experts it has left me disappointed with overcharging in my opinion and billing process. If they put as much focus on billing every 6 mins and under quoting the work their view rating would be higer. Was quoted $5-7K for a very simply divorse where everything was agreed by myself & wife to end up costing near $11K. Our concent order were declined by the courts with 24hrs! After questioning my bill twice they held strong and didnt budge! Took me a week for them to speak to me about the bill, as it wasnt billable time! It seems Lawyers learn at Uni the billing process and how to bill for every second, Clancy & Triado have mastered this. Unless you have a tonne of money, like being charged to read a email with 4 words then it's a match. Had to correct spelling and got charged for that as well! Disappointed."

"I’ll start by openly addressing an observation which may be made by “the owner” that I was not a client and by implication my review is somehow invalid. If someone I know accesses other products and services and pays for them - yet that product or service impacts me in a quite negative way - it is entirely conventional and valid to lodge a complaint or put up a negative review in relation to the impact (think financial services, real estate, accommodation, vehicles, restaurants and numerous other examples). When legal representation for either party acts in a way that is arguably deficient it will often have a significant (and potentially long-lasting) impact on others (including the other party and their children) in domains such as financial resources, health impacts, quality of life et al. Having come to the end of 3½ years of post-separation financial and parenting matters, I must strongly concur with an earlier critical review regarding Clancy and Triado that expresses concerns about arguably simple matters being drawn out too long (which significantly inflates costs). Added to that, I’d highlight concerns regarding – in my view – counterproductive and unnecessarily adversarial, aggressive and intimidatory conduct. In 2021 the previous Federal Government received a report from the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System (which commenced in 2019). Unfortunately, there is ongoing concern a large proportion of the report’s key recommendations were not implemented by the previous government. While the current government has recently announced a draft Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 there are reservations it doesn’t go far enough in addressing a need to strongly regulate the activities of the private legal profession. Amongst other issues, there are many who feel more needs to be done to control unreasonably high costs (including potential profiteering) and what Justice Robert Benjamin once described as “a culture of bitter, adversarial and highly aggressive family law litigation.” One of Justice Benjamin’s judgements said “whichever is the cause, the consequences of obscenely high legal costs are destructive of the emotional, social and financial wellbeing of the parties and their children. It must stop.” Given what I’ve experienced, I couldn’t agree with Justice Benjamin more. To ensure there is momentum for improvements and the best possible Family Law system for all: more people who feel they’ve been detrimentally impacted by deficiencies in the practice of Family Law must speak out and help drive change, i.e. in detailed online reviews or when writing to the family law courts, bodies such as the Victorian Legal Services Board & Commissioner, or your local Member of Parliament. This is a situation where we, the community, need to step up to accelerate needed (potentially radical) long-overdue reforms. If you, like me, have significant concerns about the way your Family Law matter(s) unfolded and are motivated to take action (such as a complaint or submission to a review or commission) then it is vitally important to put your concerns in writing in order to maintain pressure on the current government for meaningful reform. Whilst we can’t change the past, we can all play a part in making improvements to Family Law that benefit other families (particularly the children) and avoid unnecessarily negative experiences and outcomes. While we would be restricted from discussing specific aspects of our respective Family Law matters; I would be happy to compare notes with others in relation to concerns about the process or conduct of your matter. It’s my real identity on this review and I’m fairly easy to locate on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn (it isn’t permitted to add an email address to a review)."

"Clancy & Triado were recommended by a friend. Every interaction I had with the firm was positive. From the friendly reception staff to my solicitor Penny, every question i asked was answered or dealt with promptly. Penny was highly professional and supportive. Exactly what I needed whilst settling a difficult personal matter. I personally rarely leave google reviews, but I highly recommend Penny and her team."

"Cannot say enough good things about my service here. They were patient, supportive and had really great strategies with dealing with my case. Worth every cent. Would recommend to anyone going through a divorce with a hard ex-partner."