Family Law

HOW TO RUN YOUR OWN LEGAL MATTER

By Madsen Law
October 8, 2025

Before you continue reading, let me first explain why I strongly believe people should engage a solicitor. We often see cases where a party (often men) try to handle a legal matter themselves, usually because they believe the other side’s argument is unreasonable, untrue, or both. While that may sometimes be the case, the court process is very rigid. Missing deadlines, improperly preparing documents, or presenting your argument in a way the court cannot accept can mean your opportunity to be heard is lost.

When this happens, people often end up in more trouble, needing a solicitor not to prevent issues, but to fix them. At that point, our work shifts from resolving matters efficiently to untangling mistakes and putting the case back in order before even attempting a resolution. Unsurprisingly, this is usually more time-consuming and expensive than consulting a lawyer from the start.

This isn’t always the case, but it’s particularly common in Domestic Violence and Property Division matters.

With that in mind, here’s a short guide and some tips on how to manage your own legal matter.

HOW TO RUN YOUR OWN LEGAL MATTER

Some people believe that lawyers are too expensive and simply not worth the investment specifically in Family Law cases where anecdotally at least, lots seem to be able to manage just fine without hiring a lawyer. This article is a guide to help people run their own legal matters and sets out everything they will need to do and understand.

Step 1: Understand your entitlements

The first step in a legal matter is potentially the most crucial, people need to understand the legal principles and learn how to apply them to their own situation so they can enter into a dispute knowing what their position is and being able to clearly support it enough to satisfy a judge.

To do this, it is advised that parties take the following steps:

Study the sections of legislation relevant to their matter.
Study a significant amount of case law to understand how the court interpret and apply that legislation.
Learn and understand how to apply the law efficiently & persuasively.

Often, people who decide to enter into Court without a lawyer will be unclear on what they are allowed to ask for or will ask the Court to make orders which are completely out of line based on the facts of a given case.

Often, your opponent will be a lawyer who has vast experience in reading and understanding the law as well as how to strategically manage cases and these skills will generally help them control the narrative and work the case into their client’s favour.

When running your own case, you need to be able to support any position with the law and learn how to deal with an opponent who is seeking to poke as many holes as possible in your arguments

UInderstanding the courts rules in family law

STEP 2: Understand the Court’s Rules

The next and most important step is to understand what the Court expects of parties when conducting their matter.

Firstly, prior to an application being filed, all parties need to comply with pre action procedures, these include the following:

Exchanging the necessary documentation.
Attempting to resolve any disputes at mediation.
Issuing a formal notice of intention to commence proceedings.

In circumstances where these procedures or rules are not followed, the Court may dismiss an application or delay an application being heard until the steps have been taken or make an order that you pay the other party’s legal costs.

The Court also has rules in relation to the type and format of documents which need to be filed or exchanged, to move matters forward. Should these documents be filed incorrectly they may be deleted from the Court system as the Court is unable to accept them.

The major issue which can be faced by people who are attempting to run their own matter is that the Court’s rules apply to everyone and the Court itself is prohibited from providing legal advice to parties who are struggling to find their way. It is important that if you decide to run your own matter, you may find little assistance offered by the court itself.

Step 3: Know How To Gather Evidence

If you want to be successful in your case, you need to be able to prove to the Court that there are reasons for them to make the orders which you are seeking. The Court will usually only be persuaded where they can see clear evidence from proper sources to verify the information which you provide to them.

It can be difficult to properly gather evidence and sometimes parties need to go down multiple different channels to find the information necessary to support their case, these can include:

Providing corroborating annexures to your affidavit.
Engaging an expert to provide their opinion on an issue in dispute.
Issuing subpoenas to various people or organizations to provide needed material.

Knowing the correct way to do things is important as these matters can be complex and if you are unable to gather the information and evidence needed it is likely that you will not be successful in your case.

Step 4: Know When To Quit

The Family Law system is very focussed on parties making attempts to settle their matters without letting a judge decide. In fact, approximately 90+% of matters settle by agreement prior to a final hearing and the Court has a general expectation that parties will take steps to do so.

When you are running your own matter it can be difficult to understand at what point you should settle a matter or whether an offer made by the other side is actually reasonable.

In circumstances where a party rejects a reasonable offer and then is unsuccessful in achieving a better result in a Court hearing, the Court is usually willing to make an order that that party pay the other party’s legal costs as they have acted unreasonably and have been the cause for delay in their matter.

In circumstances where you are acting for yourself it is important to assess the benefits and drawbacks of any and all offers made by the other side so you do not prolong your case unnecessarily which will lead to negative orders made by the Court.

Conclusion

Navigating a Family Law dispute is complex, and it can be extremely overwhelming for anyone who attempts to go through it alone without proper support or assistance

If you’re currently going through a family law dispute and don’t know what to do next, contact our experienced family law team today for clear advice, strong representation, and support focused on achieving the best outcome for you and your children.