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Practising with Purpose and Passion Lawyers Weekly Finalist Chrissy Leontios
Published on 09 August 2016
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Driven by a desire to improve access to justice, CLEON Legal provides online and face to face legal and mediation services to rural and remote areas of Australia, and often during weekends and evenings. It’s all part of Leontios’s mission to challenge stereotypes about lawyers and law firms.
Based in Magnetic Island and Townsville, Leontios specialises in family mediations, domestic and family violence matters, criminal law defence, and prisoner complaints.
“We take a very casual, personal and friendly approach,” Leontios said. “For example, we see clients in their own home, have client meetings in cafes, and work holistically with other professionals, such as domestic violence workers and specialist counselors.” Virtual services, delivered via Skype, Zoom or phone conferences complement CLEON Legal’s approach to law, taking it out of a potentially confrontational, adversarial office-based context.
Mindfulness practice is central to Leontios’s family mediations. Often prior to each mediation, Leontios uses meditation to calm both parties. “We promote peaceful alternatives, such as family mediations, and collaborative practice,” said Leontios.
In addition, CLEON Legal offers fee-reduced work in family and domestic violence matters, and assists self-represented litigants.
“I am committed to offering humanitarian services for aggrieved women, which involves fee-reduced work and working with the North Queensland Domestic Violence Service and specialist domestic violence counsellors to engage in safety planning,” said Leontios.
As part of her holistic approach, Leontios provides legal advice, safety planning, help with Victims Assist applications, and strengths-based and empowerment strategies for women.
“For example, I might be retained to draft Affidavit material or provide advice and strategies to help self-represented litigants in court, and assist them with overall knowledge,” said Leontios.
Leontios credits the College’s Legal Practice Management Course with giving her the confidence and motivation to strike out with her own firm. Particularly valuable were the business development and marketing aspects of the course, as it allowed students to learn new skills as business owners, rather than further developing existing legal skills.
“This is my first time operating my own business,” said Leontios. “The College’s Legal Practice Management Course had a profound impact on me and the building of my firm.”
Achieving social change was one Leontios’s primary goals when founding her firm. “The most rewarding cases I have worked on are the humanitarian cases in the domestic violence context, where lethality is a strong indicator,” Leontios said. “I have managed to create safety and accountability for women who were living in dangerous situations.”
Following such a busy first year, Leontios has big plans to expand CLEON Legal, both in terms of offices across North Queensland and Sydney, and to grow the size of the team and the firm’s reach in the community. In addition, she is designing educational programs to assist family lawyers to engage with clients experiencing or who have experienced domestic violence.
Leontios also hopes to establish a charitable institution, CLEON LEGAL HUMANITARIAN, to offer free legal services.
“My overall aim is to change the lives of the clients I work with, and to make a profound impact in Australia’s legal system,” Leontios said. “I practise each day with purpose and passion.”