25/03/2023
✨NEW CHAPTER FOR BELPERIO CLARK AS AT 1 APRIL 2023✨ As published in the Law Society of South Australia Bulletin ✨
After a successful 30-year partnership, Bev Clark and Charlie Belperio are going their separate ways.
But they have emphasised that this is an amicable split – a natural progression for the two former directors of successful firm Belperio Clark.
“Over the last few years, we have found ourselves working with our separate teams and it seems that the time is now to transition into separate firms,” Bev explained.
Bev and Erica Panagakos, who joined Belperio Clark as a director in 2020, intend to run a purely family law practice called Clark Panagakos Family Law, while Charlie and Brendan Connell have established Belperio Connell Lawyers, Mediators and Collaborative and will continue to practise in commercial, estates, litigation and family law matters.
All Belperio Clark staff will be retained at the new firms.
“We have involved the team early, fully informed all the team and reassured all that everyone has guaranteed employment,” Charlie said.
Both firms will continue to have a strong focus on alternative dispute resolution and collaborative practice, which had become a calling card for Belperio Clark given their early adoption and leadership in these areas.
“Collaborative practice is the best approach for any matter where parties need to or want to preserve a relationship,” Bev said. “We believe family law particularly lends itself to a collaborative approach if parties must co-parent their children – the adversarial approach which a litigation model utilises is costly, time consuming, slow, stressful, and uncertain. Parties being their own decision makers is preferable to handing over the important decisions to a Judge.”
Charlie agreed and noted that this approach also applied to estate disputes, commercial disputes , and disputes generally.
“We are proud to have assisted and empowered so many clients over the years to resolve matters and find creative solutions to often life changing issues and challenges,” he said.
Belperio Clark was established in 1991 with just Bev, Charlie and a 17-year-old secretary. The firm started on Payneham Rd but quickly moved to 389 King William St where it remained for 21 years, before moving to Halifax St and finally Sturt St, which by then had grown to a firm of nine lawyers and 22 staff overall.
Bev and Charlie have noticed significant change in the profession in the past 30 years, but said that they had a commitment to staying ahead of the curve.
“When it became more prescriptive for parties to mediate prior to proceedings, this was not a concern for us as it is an approach we have promoted long before it was fashionable or necessary,” Bev said.
“We have always had a strong commitment to ongoing education and development. We support our team continuing to learn and we all achieve well beyond the minimum level of continual professional development due to our desire for learning and professional excellence.
Charlie said that workload pressure had gradually intensified during his time at Belperio Clark.
“We had to deal with increasing workloads and time pressures which most lawyers now face,” he said. “Work/life balance has become a major issue. We have tried our best to address this by proper resourcing and doing what we can to support our team.”
Despite these pressures, the firm has flourished. Even though Bev and Charlie have been in recent times essentially running their own areas of practice within the firm, they have both tried to create an environment where all members of the firm feel like they are part of a family.
“We have mostly been compatible in our styles,” Charlie said. “In all relationships there will be differences of course, but they have been dealt with creatively and respectfully.”
For Charlie and Bev, the principles that underpin collaborative practice have also applied to their own professional relationship.
“Open communication and compromise over the years has contributed to a positive working relationship,” Charlie said. “Also an ability to respectfully disagree, hear the other’s concerns and interests and compromise.”
Bev summed it up neatly. “Compromise and complementary skills. Just like a marriage!”
