R+M RANKED ‘FIRST TIER’ AGAIN IN 2025 DOYLE’S GUIDE

The Doyle’s Guide Yearly Best Firms & Lawyers listing is compiled by peers within the legal profession. For a firm to receive a ‘First Tier’ ranking the firm not only needs a high vote count, but they also need to have glowing reports from clients and individuals. The same applies for the individual rankings; those who place in the Preeminent and Leading lawyers’ categories are those who consistently draw the praise of both clients and peers.

We are proud to announce that Robinson + McGuinness has been recognised once again as a First Tier - Leading Family and Divorce Law Firm in Canberra, a great achievement for the firm which has now been in practice for over nine years.

Members of the Robinson + McGuinness team have also been recognised for their excellence in the family law field. Our Directors, Kevin Robinson and Sally McGuinness have yet again been recognised by their peers as Leading Family and Divorce Lawyers, with Sally being acknowledged as Preeminent within the ACT. Both Directors have also been recognised in the Leading Parenting, Custody & Children’s Matters, with Kevin being acknowledged as Preeminent. Our Associate, Anika Buckley, has also made a lasting impression, being recognised as a Rising Star in Family Law for the second year in a row.

We are very grateful for the recognition and support, and we congratulate our team on their great achievements!

If you would like to make an appointment with one of our experienced lawyers, please contact us today either online, via phone on (02) 6225 7040 or via email on info@rmfamilylaw.com.au.

You can read the full 2025 ACT listing on the Doyle’s Guide website.

Christmas Arrangements: Things to Think About

Many separated couples have very different ideas about how they would like to organise their Christmas arrangements between the children. Parents want to enjoy the magic of Christmas with their children, especially while they are young. It is important for separated parents to really consider how they will split Christmas as early as possible, so that they can organise their own holiday plans, and avoid conflict where possible.

There are a few arrangements that parents could consider in terms of how to celebrate Christmas with their children, as follows:

1. Splitting Christmas Day

Most parents want to spend Christmas Day with their children. One option is to arrange time such that a child spends Christmas Eve to the middle of Christmas Day with one parent, and then from the afternoon of Christmas Day to Boxing Day with the other parent.

A benefit of this arrangement is that the child gets to spend Christmas Day with both of their parents, and extended families. However, some parents do not have such an amicable relationship and decide that seeing their ex-partner on the day would be too stressful, or perhaps too tiring for the children. In those circumstances they can consider other arrangements as set out below.

2. Alternating Christmas Day

Some parents decide that they will forgo spending Christmas Day with their children every year, and instead spend alternating Christmases. This could mean that a child spends time with one parent from 24 December to Boxing Day with one parent, and with the other parent the next year and so on.

3. Alternating weeks

Other parents decide that they want the option to travel for Christmas Day, and will agree to a week of time, or longer, around Christmas to enable travel to occur each alternating year.

It is important to remember that when you are considering parenting arrangements around Christmas, it should be about the traditions and quality of time you spend with your children and not necessary principled about spending time with them on 25 December each year. 

Time to file an application in Court for Christmas arrangements in any given year is the second Friday of November. This year it has already passed.

If you do not file an application with the Court by that date, you are unlikely to get any hearing (or a decision) from the Court in time for Christmas. If you do not have the arrangements settled for Christmas time this year, you should consider attending an urgent mediation to discuss the arrangements with your ex-partner.

If you would like specialist family law advice about parenting arrangements at Christmas, please contact Robinson + McGuinness today to arrange an appointment on (02) 62257040, by email on info@rmfamilylaw.com.au or get started now online with one of our experienced lawyers.

Author: Catherine Finucane, Associate

R+M Ranked 'First Tier' in 2024 Doyle's Guide

The Doyle’s Guide yearly Best Firms & Lawyers listing is compiled by peers within the legal profession. For a firm to receive a ‘First Tier’ ranking the firm not only needs a high vote count, but they also need to have glowing reports from clients and individuals. The same applies for the individual rankings; those who place in the Preeminent and Leading lawyers’ categories are those who consistently draw the praise of both clients and peers.

We are proud to announce that Robinson + McGuinness has been recognised once again as a First Tier - Leading Family and Divorce Law Firm in Canberra, a great achievement for the firm which has now been in practice for over eight years.

Members of the Robinson + McGuinness team have also been recognised for their excellence in the family law field. Our Directors, Kevin Robinson and Sally McGuinness have yet again been recognised by their peers as Leading Family and Divorce Lawyers, with Sally being acknowledged as Preeminent within the ACT. Both Directors have also been recognised in the Leading Parenting, Custody & Children’s Matters, with Kevin being acknowledged as Preeminent within the ACT. Our Associate Anika Buckley has also made a lasting impression being recognised as a Rising Star in Family Law.

We are very grateful for the recognition and support, and we congratulate our team on their great achievements! 

If you would like to make an appointment with one of our experienced lawyers, please contact us today either online here, via phone on (02) 6225 7040 or via email on info@rmfamilylaw.com.au.

You can read the full listing on the Doyle’s Guide website, here.

ROBINSON + McGUINNESS FAMILY LAW – ‘FIRST TIER’ IN DOYLE’S GUIDE FOR 2021

The Doyle’s Guide celebrates leading law firms and lawyers who have been acknowledged by peers and by the legal profession for their expertise within their field.

We are proud to announce that Robinson + McGuinness has once again been recognised as one of Canberra’s First Tier Leading Family & Divorce Law Firms.

Members of the Robinson + McGuinness team have also been recognised for their excellence in the family law field. Our directors, Kevin Robinson and Sally McGuinness, have been recognised as Preeminent Leading Family & Divorce Lawyers. Kevin has also been recognised as a Preeminent Leading Parenting, Custody and Children’s Matter Lawyer for the fifth year in a row. Our Senior Associate, Anna-Kate Visser, was recognised as a Recommended Leading Family & Divorce Lawyer and a Recommended Leading Parenting, Custody and Children’s Matter Lawyer. Our Associate, Ellen Russell and our Lawyer, Peta Sutton, were both listed as Family Law Rising Stars.

We are extremely grateful for the recognition and we congratulate our team on their achievements!

You can find the full listing here. 

Robinson + McGuinness recognised by peers as leaders in their field in the ACT in the prestigious Doyle’s Guide 2018 for the third year running

This month Doyle’s Guide released their 2018 listings for leading family law firms and leading family lawyers in the ACT. You can read the full listing here. We feel privileged to be named in both the leading law firm and leading lawyers categories for family law in Canberra for the third year in a row (each year since the firm’s inception). We appreciate the recognition within our legal community that the work we do is client focused and of the highest standard.

Our hard work has been spearheaded by Directors Kevin Robinson and Sally McGuinness, the tireless leaders of Robinson + McGuinness. Their hard work is reflected in their listing as two of the leading family lawyers in the ACT, Sally McGuinness being recognised as Preeminent. This is the fourth year that Sally has been personally nominated and the third year for Kevin. Kevin has also been recognised as a Leading Parenting, Custody and Children’s Matter Lawyer. You can find the full listing here.

While our Directors, Sally McGuinness and Kevin Robinson, are constantly assisting clients to achieve settlements that are tailored to their needs, family law is a team effort. That’s why we are grateful to not only be recognised as leading family lawyers in the ACT, but also as a leading family law firm. We appreciate being listed for a third year in a row, and especially for our listing as a second tier firm despite our relative youth! We are listed among our peers (and opponents) whom we respect and engage with on a daily basis. We enjoy what we do and we pride ourselves on having a positive firm culture which we extend to the clients that we service. 

You can find the full listing and details of those who accompany us here.