Friday, 27 February 2026
Learning Objectives:
- Develop practical strategies for conducting effective first client meetings in family law matters
- Understand how to manage expectations, explain legal principles clearly and establish appropriate professional boundaries from the outset
Chair
Helen Tyree, Director, McWilliam Tyree
Description
Attend and earn 0.5 CPD hour
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Preparing Effectively for the First Client Meeting
- Establishing rapport and managing client expectations
- Discussing post-separation claims and clarifying the law
- Explaining the difference between discretionary awards and legal entitlements
- Gathering key information and identifying next steps
- Setting clear boundaries, costs, and communication frameworks
Presented by Alice Strang, Barrister, Brintyn Smith Barrister
Presenters
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Helen Tyree, Director, McWilliam Tyree
Helen became a Director of the McWilliam Tyree in Wellington in 2021, having previously been an Associate and then Senior Associate at McWilliam Rennie (predecessor of McWilliam Tyree) since 2014. She has been practicing all areas of family law since 2003, initially in Taranaki before moving to Wellington. Helen often acts in complex relationship property matters, including matters involving trusts, companies and economic disparity and maintenance claims. She also takes appointments from the Family Court to represent children in the Family Court, and also people who lack capacity in applications for welfare guardians and property managers pursuant to the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act. Helen is a contributing author for the legal publication Westlaw, writing about relationship property agreements (separation agreements, contracting-out agreements, and setting aside those agreements). She also contributed significantly to McWilliam Rennie and McWilliam Tyree’s submissions to the Law Commission in relation to their reviews of relationship property, succession law and adult capacity law. She presents seminars for NZCLE and Legalwise on a range of family law matters, particularly relationship property and the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act. Helen graduated from Otago University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Laws and from Brunel University of London in 2003 with a Master of Law in Child Law and Policy (with distinction).
Alice Strang, Barrister, Brintyn Smith Barrister
Aly is a specialist family law barrister and legal aid provider. She handles family law legal matters with a special interest in advocacy, procedural and interlocutory matters. Aly routinely appears in the Family Court in respect to parenting and guardianship disputes, Family Violence, Oranga Tamariki and Relationship Property matters. While passionate about litigation, Aly also places significant emphasis on resolving disputes amicably through mediation and collaborative approaches.
