Presenters

Jacqueline Dawson, Principal Solicitor, Sexton Family Law
Jacqueline Dawson is the Principal of Sexton Family Law and an Accredited Specialist in Family Law. Admitted to practice as a solicitor in 1994 and an Accredited Specialist since 2001, Jacqueline began practice in early 1995 with the firm then known as Robyn Sexton & Associates and remained as a principal of the firm when Judge Sexton was appointed to the Federal Magistrates Court. Jacqueline is a Councillor of the Law Society of NSW, and the 2025 Junior Vice President. Within the Law Society, she is presently Chair of the Specialist Accreditation Board, Co-Chair of the Family Law Committee and Chair of the Professional Conduct Committee. She also serves as a board member of the NSW Legal Aid Commission, a member of the Sydney University Law Extension Committee and a member of the Legal Qualifications Committee of the Legal Profession Admission Board.

Josephine Pignataro, Partner, HWL Ebsworth
Josephine is an Accredited Specialist in Wills & Estates Law, with over 20 years of experience in the area of estates and succession law. Josephine acts for private clients in relation to estate planning, including for individuals and families with relatively simple structures to those with ultra high net wealth. She also acts for individuals and companies on grants of representation and estate administration, and estate litigation. Josephine acted on the first successful statutory Will application in NSW which is reported as Re Fenwick; Application of JR Fenwick [2009] NSWSC 530. A respected estate law practitioner, Josephine is consistently recognised by Doyle’s Guide for Estate Litigation and Estate Planning – NSW. She has a Masters of Laws from the University of New South Wales, is a trained Collaborative Estates Law Practitioner, an adjunct lecturer for the College of Law in the Applied Masters of Laws (Wills and Estates) program and is proficient in Italian.

Heidi Menkes, Partner, Pearson Emerson
Heidi is an Accredited Family Law Specialist having practised exclusively in the area of family law since 2008. Heidi is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and has been a partner of Pearson Emerson Family Lawyers since 2020. Doyle’s 2025 Guide to the Australian Legal Market has recognised Heidi as a recommended family lawyer in Sydney. Heidi was also recommended as a family lawyer for parenting and children’s matters in NSW for 2023 and a Rising Star in family law in the Australian legal market for 2020. Heidi is a dynamic and pragmatic lawyer who has extensive experience acting for high net worth individuals in a wide range of family law matters ranging from complex property matters that include sophisticated trust and corporate structures, to spousal maintenance, financial agreements, matters involving third parties and child support. Heidi also has a specialised practice in complex parenting matters that involve an international element and has been involved in a number of successful Hague Convention and international relocation matters. Heidi’s empathy, combined with her technical and commercial skills, allow her to clearly identify her client’s objectives and provide strategic and practical advice, helping to achieve favourable outcomes for her clients. Heidi is collaboratively trained and offers this as an alternative way for her clients to reach a commercially sound resolution to their dispute at an early stage.