We've identified four critical concerns for Family Lawyers and included them in for you in one jam packed morning. If you're eager to get answers to any or all these questions, then this seminar is for you:
- Want to understand how key family law reforms have been interpreted by the courts in the last four months?
- Keen to support clients experiencing family violence during family court proceedings?
- Do you want to know how to handle an undefended proceeding in Family Court?
- Need strategies to manage court delays in relation to settlement offers, and costs?
Don't be left wondering, this webinar promises to answer these questions and more.
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is based on WA legislation
Chair
Trevor O’Sullivan, Special Counsel, O’Sullivan Davies Family Lawyers
9.00am to 10.00am Four Months Down the Track: How the Reforms are Being Interpreted
- Gain valuable insights into how the Family Law Court has been interpreting the recent reforms to the Family Law Act over the past four months
- Examine recent decisions and take away key learnings that you can immediately apply to your practice
Presented by Rachel Milton, Barrister, John Toohey Chambers
10.00am to 11.00am Dealing with Domestic Violence in Family Court Proceedings
- Identify domestic violence in all its different forms
- Practical steps to take to assist your client
- Case studies and scenarios
- Tips and common traps
Presented by Melissa Milne, Principal – Family Law and Alison Brooks, Senior Associate, Cullen Macleod Lawyers
12.15pm to 1.15pm Dealing with Delays: Costs, Offers of Settlement, Orders and Affidavits
- Client Engagement Agreements: what are your obligations?
- Effect of costs orders with long delays
- Offers of Settlement: how are they treated when there are delays?
- Differing costs scales in Family Law matters: recognising which one applies
Presented by Trevor O’Sullivan, Special Counsel, O’Sullivan Davies Family Lawyers and Amy Pascoe, Legal Practitioner Director, Pascoe Legal
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
11.15am to 12.15pm Proceeding Undefended in the Family Court
- When the court will order that a matter proceed undefended
- What right to be heard does a non-complying party have after the matter goes undefended
- Setting aside an undefended order - before judgment
- Setting aside an undefended order after the hearing but before judgment is delivered
- Costs issues and undefended matters
Presented by Marty Kavanagh, Principal, Kavanagh Family Lawyers Perth
Presenters
Trevor O’Sullivan, Special Counsel, O’Sullivan Davies Family Lawyers
Trevor graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1969. He was admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 1972 and to the High Court of Australia in 1987. Trevor completed the Professional Certificate of Arbitration and Mediation at the University of Adelaide in 1999 and is a member of the Resolution Institute and the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators (AIFLAM). Trevor is an NMAS accredited Mediator. Trevor is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and a past member of the Council of the Family Law Practitioners' Association of WA having previously held a number of positions including President and Secretary. In 2013 Trevor was made a Life Member of the Family Law Practitioners' Association of WA (FLPA). The FLPA awarded him Family Lawyer of the year 2018. Trevor became an accredited Family Law Specialist in 1992 and chairs the Law Society of Western Australia's Accreditation Committee. Prior to forming O'Sullivan Davies, Trevor was a Partner at Clayton Utz for 15 years. Before that, he was also a Partner at the firm now known as Ilberys for 10 years. He has served on the Executive of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and has given numerous papers at local and national conferences and to tertiary institutions and specialist interest groups. He is Chairman of the WAFL Tribunal. Trevor is a past Chair of the Council of Wesley College.
Rachel Milton, Barrister, John Toohey Chambers
Rachel is an experienced advocate practising in family law, restraining orders and protection and care matters. Rachel has practiced exclusively in these areas since admission and is also a qualified Independent Children’s Lawyer and Separate Representative. Rachel was elected to the WA Bar and joined John Toohey Chambers in 2023. Prior to joining John Toohey Chambers, Rachel was a Senior Associate at a boutique family law firm with the majority of her practice advising and appearing in the Family Court of Western Australia, Magistrates Court and Children’s Court including at trial. Rachel has a particular interest in complex parenting matters.
Melissa Milne, Principal – Family Law, Cullen Macleod Lawyers
Melissa was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2007, after completing a Bachelor of Business (Management) and Bachelor of Laws at Monash University in Victoria. Melissa practised as a generalist solicitor in Melbourne until she moved to sunny Perth in 2010. Melissa now practises exclusively in Family Law, heading up the Family Law team at Cullen Macleod Lawyers in Nedlands. Melissa has an avid interest in high conflict parenting matters, commonly representing victims of family violence in the Family Court of WA in both parenting and financial proceedings. Melissa is driven to assist and represent her clients with empathy and compassion, and applies a common sense approach to negotiations and communication. Melissa spends much of her “spare” time chasing after, and advocating for, her energetic neuro-diverse children – bringing another element of understanding to the families she represents.
Alison Brooks, Senior Associate, Cullen Macleod Lawyers
Alison studied Psychology and Law at the University of Western Australia before moving to Melbourne in 2004. Alison was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2006, and subsequently worked in a variety of areas of practice including commercial litigation and family law. In 2009, Alison relocated back to Western Australia and commenced working exclusively in family law. Alison worked with Kott Gunning Lawyers for 8 years, before joining Cullen Macleod as a Senior Associate in May 2017. Alison is a dedicated family lawyer, and her practical and empathetic approach is utilised to obtain the best outcome for her clients, at the earliest opportunity possible. Alison regularly appears in the Family Court of Western Australia on a variety of matters.
Marty Kavanagh, Principal, Kavanagh Family Lawyers Perth
Marty Kavanagh is the Principal of Kavanagh Lawyers. Marty tutored in ethics at Curtin university for several years in the early 2000s. Marty has a particular interest in Restraining orders; adoption; surrogacy; parental rights and presumptions of parentage; and family law issues relating to the LGBTIQ+ community. From 2012 to 2017 Marty wrote the WA restraining orders commentary for Thompson Reuters. In 2018, Marty was one of the lawyers who assisted GayDads WA in their legal submissions to the government's review of the Surrogacy Act 2008. In 2022 Marty was appointed to the WA Health Minister’s Expert panel on the review of the Surrogacy and Human Reproductive Technology acts. Marty is also the Honorary Consul of Ireland to Western Australia. Just to prove that life isn’t always about backing winners, Marty is a keen Fremantle Dockers fan.
Amy Pascoe, Legal Practitioner Director, Pascoe Legal
Amy has worked exclusively in the area of legal costs and is currently the legal practitioner director of Pascoe Legal. Amy has educated and provided advice to many Western Australian law practices on the transition to the Legal Profession Uniform Law in 2022. In 2021 Amy was elected to the Legal Practice Board ("LPB"), and since that time has served on the LPB's Professional Affairs Committee, the LPB's Admissions and Registrations Committee and the LPB's Legal Services and Complaints Committee. Amy is also Deputy Convenor of the Law Society of Western Australia’s Costs Committee to which she has been a member since 2016.
