Accredited Family Law Specialists

In 1994 the Law Society of New South Wales set up a specialist accreditation scheme, to enable the public to identify Solicitors who have proven expertise in a particular area of law.

The object of the scheme was to raise competence within the profession and to acknowledge Solicitors who demonstrated especial competency in a specialised area of the law.

To become an accredited family law specialist, a Solicitor is required to undergo rigorous examination. Solicitors must have practised law full-time for at least 5 (five) years before applying for accreditation, and the majority of that time must have been spent in the area in which they seek accreditation.

Both Chris Dimock and James Richardson are Accredited Specialists in Family Law. Chris was amongst the first Solicitors to be accepted as an accredited specialist in family law (in 1994), whilst James was accredited in 1998.

On an ongoing basis, accredited specialists are required to continue practising in their chosen specialty area for at least 25% of each year, and they are also required to undertake twice the number of hours of continuing professional education as solicitors that are not accredited.