Attention WA Family Law practitioners! Join us for a tailored educational session where you'll delve into crucial issues unique to Family Law in WA. Discover the pitfalls of negotiating and drafting binding financial agreements. Master the art of handling complex children issues and receive key case updates. Lastly, gain insights from a successful lawyer who has built their practice on value-based pricing. Enhance your expertise and advance your Family Law career. Don't miss this invaluable event! 

Presenters

Mr. Brendan Ashdown, Barrister, John Toohey Chambers
Brendan Ashdown has been admitted to legal practice for over 25 years. After founding his own firm, and later joining a mid-sized City firm, Brendan commenced practice at the bar in 2005 at John Toohey Chambers. Brendan undertakes trial and appellate work in a wide range of areas with an emphasis on equity & trusts, insolvency, contested wills & estates, and family law property matters (appeals, trust, company & third party issues).


Ms. Nicola Watts, Principal, O’Sullivan Davies Family Lawyers
Nicola studied at the University of Tasmania and was admitted as a Practitioner of the Supreme Court of Tasmania and the High Court of Australia in 1993. Four years later, Nicola moved to Melbourne where she was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria and worked in family law for 16 years. She moved to Perth in 2013, joined O’Sullivan Davies in 2018 and became Principal in 2020. Widely experienced across Australia, Nicola practises in all areas of family law with a particular interest in children’s matters. Nicola was one of the first people in Australia to be trained to act as an Independent Children’s Lawyer and was appointed by the Legal Aid Commissions of Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia to represent children between 1995 and 2018 in that role. Nicola has also qualified as a mediator, collaborative lawyer and arbitrator. Nicola is Western Australia’s only Executive Member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia (FLS) having been elected in 2016 and made Treasurer in 2021. Nicola is the Chair of the Organising Committee for FLS’ 20th National Conference which will take place in Perth in October 2024. She also sits on the Legal Aid Review Committee and as FLS Representative on the Family Law Practitioners Association of Western Australia (FLPA). Nicola has previously been a member of the Board of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators (AIFLAM) and the Law Society of Western Australia’s Ethics and PSS sub-committees and the Legal Aid Review Committee.


Mr. John Butler, Special Counsel/Director, Butlers, Lawyers & Notaries
John Butler has worked in the law for more than 55 years. He is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, and on the Roll of Legal Practitioners for the High Court of Australia. In addition to Western Australia, John has practised in New South Wales and the ACT. He has been a partner in a national legal firm and has twice established his own practice. John is currently the Principal of Butlers, Lawyers & Notaries, based in Nedlands. The majority of John's practice is in the areas of Family Law, Business Planning, Wills & Estate Planning, Claims on Estates, Guardianship & Administration and Elder Law. John has been involved with government and independent schools for over 40 years, including serving on the governing bodies of several independent schools over that period. John holds a Commission in the Australian Army and is on the Reserve of Officers. John is also an active member of the Rotary Club of Matilda Bay.


Dr Colin Huntly, Barrister, Murray Chambers
Prior to joining Murray Chambers, Colin was a full-time Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). At the AAT Colin previously sat in the Migration and Refugee Division, and currently sits in both the NDIS and General and Other Divisions. In 2023 Colin divides his time between his role as an AAT Member and his new practice at the bar. A former academic, Colin has taught at both Curtin and Edith Cowan Universities. He is also an experienced parliamentary officer, having been a senior officer of the Legislative Councils of both Western Australia and Tasmania. Between 2014 and 2016 he was a Committee Member and Vice-president of the Australia New Zealand Association of Clerks at the Table. His parliamentary experience includes advising on major parliamentary inquiries in both Western Australia and Tasmania. Colin is an experienced presenter of seminars and professional development sessions within Australia and internationally. In addition to his interest and experience in parliamentary and constitutional matters, Colin also has a particular interest in legal issues faced by educational and third-sector entities including membership associations.


Ms. Katherine Bromfield, Legal Practitioner Director, Bromfield Family Law
Katherine Bromfield is an experienced family lawyer and Director of Bromfield Family Law. Katherine represents clients in respect of parenting and financial issues arising from separation and the associated proceedings in the Family Court of Western Australia and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Katherine has a special interest in family violence, in particular the dynamics of coercive control and systems abuse, and regularly appears in restraining order proceedings in the Magistrates Court of WA. Katherine’s practice also extends to the Protection and Care jurisdiction of the Children’s Court of WA, representing respondent parents and foster parents. Katherine completed her Articled Clerkship and found her feet as a junior lawyer at Legal Aid WA, gaining experience in both criminal law and family law, then worked at a number of different private family law firms before starting her own family law practice in 2020. Family law disputes damage families and Katherine is committed to finding alternative pathways to litigation and practical solutions which allow families to move forward. Katherine is trained in mediation and collaboration and is currently serving as Vice President of Collaborative Professionals WA.