Our Team

As a lawyer with over 25 years’ experience, I hold a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Technology, Sydney, a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the University of Technology. Having undertaken additional training in Collaborative Practice, I am also a Certified Collaborative Professional and skilled negotiator.

Whilst studying for my law degree, I worked in the mortgage department of the ANZ bank. After graduating from law, I honed my legal skills at the NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office, a legal mortgage practice and generalist legal practice. I subsequently founded my own general legal practice, which has been operating for over 20 years. With experience in traditional family law, property law, commercial law and wills and probate law, I pride myself on being thorough and dedicated to helping my clients achieve their goals.

No area of law is an island and I believe my diverse experience in other legal areas greatly assists me in my family law practice. When a family is going through a separation, the threads of many of other legal areas often come together and require consideration – such as the impact on family businesses, family trusts, real estate, company shares, powers of attorney, wills, inheritances, and a myriad of contracts which may impact a family law property division/settlement. A deep understanding of the dynamics these factors present enables me to think outside the box when advising my clients and guiding them through the family law process.

Through years of practice in traditional family law, I witnessed the difficulties families were being faced with emotionally, psychologically, and financially, and decided to search for a better way for separating families to navigate the breakdown of a relationship, which is what led me to Collaborative Family Law. I feel strongly that Collaborative Family Law best reflects my values and purpose in becoming a lawyer. It assists people to overcome a challenging situation by utilising the law – without forgetting about the people during the process.

The family law process may feel very daunting and intimidating. However, rather than being diminished by this process, I believe that by resolving disputes out of court Collaborative Family Law enables families to preserve relationships in a different configuration to what previously existed and emerge stronger, with renewed hope and direction for the future.

Qualifications & Memberships

• Bachelor of Laws – University of Technology, Sydney
• Bachelor of Economics – University of Sydney
• Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice – University of Technology, Sydney
• Certificate in Collaborative Practice – Training by Clarissa Rayward
• Law Society of NSW – Member
• Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals – Member
• Collaborative Professionals (NSW) Inc. – Member
• Admitted to the High Court of Australia
• Admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW

As a lawyer with over 10 years’ experience, I hold a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the College of Law. I am also a Certified Collaborative Professional and skilled negotiator, having undertaken additional training in Collaborative Practice.

Beginning my legal career in a corporate and commercial law (mergers and acquisitions) team, I transitioned into generalist legal practice to pursue my interest in family law, property law / conveyancing, leasing, wills / estate / probate law and commercial law more broadly.

The intersection between these different legal areas deepened my understanding of the complex and diverse issues that often arise in family law practice, such as the role of a family business in a property division, and the implications of separation, divorce and blended families on wills and succession planning. I love drawing on my diverse legal background and knowledge of other areas of law to inform and enhance my family law practice – offering creative solutions to separating families beyond those typically offered in traditional family law.

Having previously worked in traditional family law as part of general legal practice, I felt disheartened by the toll the traditional pathway of family law takes on the individuals involved – most especially on children. My own separation later impelled me to search for a better way to practice family law – one that aims to minimise conflict and crystallises points of contention in a human rather than strictly legalistic way. My goal became helping separating families stay out of the court system wherever possible – which is why I am so passionate about Collaborative Family Law (or Collaborative Divorce)!

A Collaborative Law purist (as I call myself!), it is my mission to raise awareness of Collaborative Family Law as a pathway for individuals and families to not only survive but thrive through separation and beyond. My YouTube videos and blog posts offer insights and resources to individuals contemplating or already navigating the end of an intimate partner relationship.

As a mum who has personally experienced a separation and divorce with a young child, I can deeply relate to and empathise with my clients, even when the individual circumstances differ. Together with my keen interest in psychology, I recognise that separation is more than just a legal issue. I look at the holistic impact of relationship and family breakdown on individuals and strive to help my clients rebuild their lives through the Collaborative process.

Qualifications & Memberships

• Bachelor of Laws (Hons) – University of Sydney
• Bachelor of Arts – University of Sydney
• Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice – College of Law
• Certificate in Collaborative Practice – Training by Clarissa Rayward
• Law Society of NSW – Member
• Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals – Member
• Collaborative Professionals (NSW) Inc. – Member
• Admitted to the High Court of Australia
• Admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW