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What is your background (personal)?

Born in 1984 I am the youngest of three (3) children. My parents Rex (or better known to everyone as Bicky) and Edith raised my brother, sister and I just over the border in Tweed Heads. Living in Tweed Heads during the 80’s and 90’s meant that most days you would find me surfing at either Greenmount, Rainbow Bay or Snapper Rocks.

What is your background (education and business)?

I completed my secondary studies at Coombabah State High School in 2001. After finishing High School in 2002 I immediately jumped into my tertiary study, enrolling into a Bachelor of Laws at Bond University in Robina.

In 2004 I was extremely fortunate to have been offered a placement within a highly respected and acclaimed law firm in Southport. Knowing the importance of having actual experience I jumped at the opportunity and began working on a full-time basis as a Research Assistant/Office Clerk whilst completing the remainder of my degree on a part-time basis. By 2007 I completed my studies and in 2008 was admitted as a Solicitor.

Upon my admission as a Solicitor my focus turned to family law and together with the Junior Partner of the practice we started the family law division of the firm.

In 2014, I took up an opportunity to extend my experience in the area of family law and work within one of Queensland’s largest and most renowned family law practices based in Bundall. I continued to work with this firm until mid-2018.

Why did you start McAdam Family Law?

Having worked for the entirety of my professional career in the CBD of the Gold Coast, I was always surprised to hear the distance some clients would travel (especially those living in the south) in order to obtain quality legal advice and assistance. More and more I was seeing clients who were travelling to the Gold Coast CBD (from Miami in the north to Lismore in the South) despite there being many family law practices closer to their residence. Speaking with these people and asking them directly why they chose to travel such great distances I learnt that they believed a superior service could only be achieved by seeing a ‘big city’ practice.

Having personally provided those ‘superior services’ for the past 15 years it led me to commencing McAdam Family Law, a family law practice which aims to provide strategic, costs-conscious, child focused family law solutions on a more accessible basis to residents of the southern suburbs of the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales.

Does McAdam Family Law have a stated mission?

The values which McAdam Family Law strives to achieve are:

1. To offer hope and a future that works for clients and their families;

2. To provide strategic, costs-conscious, child focused family law solutions;

3. To implement proven strategies for keeping matters out of court; and

4. To work towards a dignified divorce so as to achieve a respectful resolution.

In my experience I have found that these values have consistently been the most important to my clients. Knowing this and focusing on making these a priority has become McAdam Family Law’s mission.

What makes you different from your competitors and why should people choose you over them?

Aside from my personal experience as a Family Lawyer, what makes me different from other family law practices and practitioners is the way upon which I approach dealing with family law matters. I have always been of the view that the vast majority of family lawyers like to ‘fuel the fire’ of a dispute. This is because they are aware that to do so results in the dispute continuing and therefore their fees increasing. I have never agreed with this. Lawyers have ethical duties to act in their client’s best interests and to deliver legal services competently, diligently and as promptly as possible. Fuelling a dispute flies directly in the face of this ethical obligation.

I have always felt a need to serve my clients on the basis that I want to be a part of the solution, and not the problem. This means that I don’t encourage fighting with the other party. Instead, I make every effort to understand my client’s objections, needs and priorities and with this implement proven strategies to resolve matters (and preferably out of court).

On a practical level, I don’t operate out of the old model of having an office front where clients must attend in order to seek professional help. Today, we are fortunate to be living in an age where there is a growing availability of office spaces which have fully functioning and equipped private meeting facilities. Utilising these services in four (4) locations between the Gold Coast and Byron Bay has in turn allowed me to make my services available to a wider range of people over a greater distance which (as mentioned previously) is the main reason for starting McAdam Family Law in the first place.

At the end of the day however, it’s important that people feel comfortable and confident in their legal representative. We are in essence assisting with some of the most important issues in a person’s life. If people are not comfortable or confident with their representation, then how can they be sure that their families and/or their own best interest are being served?

Where do you see yourself in the next year, five years, ten years?

My goals for the next one, five and ten years are the same, namely, I want to provide a quality service to my clients and whilst at the same time being able to provide, spend time with and grow my family. I hope to continue to do this as a resident of the southern corridor of the Gold Coast.

Who inspired you growing up?

I have been extremely lucky to have my Dad who has always been an inspirational figure in my life. He has been there for me from the beginning (literally) and is still there for me now. Had it not been for him, I would have not been able to live the fortunate life I have lived to date, to have experienced the things that I have or be able to do the things I am doing now. He has taught me everything and I only hope that I can provide for my family the way that he did for his. Thank you Dad, I appreciate everything you’ve done!

Who are your inspirations now?

My inspirations now are my wife, Joelene and daughter, Billy. Each and every day they teach me something new and because of them I am a better man than the day before. Having them has taught me what it means to love and I will be forever grateful to have existed in their presence. I love you both more than words can describe.