Cover all the recent developments in property & financial matters in family law.  Examine the Family Law Amendment Bill & how to incorporate these changes into your practice. Gain valuable tips and updates on the treatment of Trust property & equitable interests from learned counsel and a review of contributions.  Explore joinder issues of third parties & get your annual case update. Finally, get your compulsory CPD points in Ethics, Practice Management & Professional Skills for Family lawyers. 

Presenters

Genevieve Dee, Partner, Lander & Rogers
Accredited Family Law Specialist Genevieve Dee is a partner at Lander and Rogers and has worked exclusively in family law and has fifteen years’ experience. Genevieve specialises in all aspects of family law, including parenting and property matters, financial agreements, spousal maintenance and child support issues. Doyle’s Guide 2022 has recognised Genevieve as a Pre-eminent Family & Divorce Lawyer, Leading Parenting & Children’s Matters Lawyer and Recommended Complex and High-Value Property Matters Lawyer in Brisbane. In addition, Genevieve has been named as recommended Family & Divorce Lawyer in the Doyle’s Guide 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 national listings.


Mr. Adam Cooper, Principal, Cooper Family Law
Adam Cooper is the principal of Cooper Family Law, now in its thirteenth year of operation. Prior to that, Adam was at the private bar, before taking on a special counsel role at Barry.Nilsson Lawyers. Adam is also a regular on the conference circuit, having recently given papers on applications for leave under section 44, negotiating relocation cases, and managing clients with impaired capacity. Adam is currently advising the District Court of Mecklenburg, North Carolina about Australian superannuation splitting orders, a task not made easy by the Judge’s comments suggesting grave concerns regarding how far sunk in communism Australia had become. Some many years ago, Adam was a professional footballer, and he hopes that one day he might be a professional lawyer.


Jennifer Hetherington, Co-Founder, Divorce Hub
Jennifer Hetherington is the co-founder of Divorce Hub. She was admitted in 1999 and has been an Accredited Specialist since 2005. She is a Registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner and Parenting Coordinator. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution Practice and is an experienced Collaborative Lawyer. Jennifer has served on many local committees and boards during her career, including serving as a QLS Councillor, on the QLS Family Law Committee and Specialist Accreditation Board, Secretary of the Queensland Association of Collaborative Practitioners and a Board Member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and Mummy’s Wish Inc. Jennifer has presented papers and workshops in Australia and internationally for numerous organisations including: Queensland Law Society; Australian Institute of Family Studies; Legalwise; LexisNexis; College of Law; Association of Family and Conciliation Courts; Education CPE; Association for Conflict Resolution - Greater New York. Jennifer has run her own firm since 2014 and in 2017 was awarded Sole Practitioner of the Year in both the Australian Law Awards and the Women in Law Awards and was a finalist for the Family Law Partner of the Year in 2018.


Ms Dianne Pendergast, Barrister, Brisbane Chambers
Dianne Pendergast was admitted to practice law in 1986. Since then she has practiced predominantly in family law, wills and estates, child protection and domestic violence. Dianne was a partner in a boutique practice until 1992, when she was appointed as a registrar of the Family Court where she worked as a mediator, conciliator and conducted interim hearings for the next 14 years. In 2006 Dianne was appointed to the statutory position of Adult Guardian (Qld.). Dianne has practiced as a barrister for the last 13 years.


Mr. Timothy J Puckey KC, Barrister, Dever’s List
Tim practises at the Bar in all aspects of Family and Relationship Law including Property and Financial, Parenting, Child Support and related matters. Tim is regularly briefed in complex financial disputes involving commercial, trust and equity issues and valuation disputes. He is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and Arbitrator.


Jennifer Rimmer, Principal, Jenny Rimmer Mediations
Jenny Rimmer Mediations was created to provide people in conflict the guidance they need to achieve a fair and harmonious outcome. Committed to resolving the common disputes of family separation through the process of mediation, Jenny Rimmer gives them that chance. In fact, Jenny is passionate about ensuring that people have the means to resolve their disputes themselves, without the stress and damage of expensive litigation. Read more about her background below. Jenny was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1982, and is presently a solicitor of the High Court of Australia. Jenny is a Nationally Accredited Mediator, an approved Family Dispute Resolution Provider under the Family Law Regulations, and has completed the training for Arbitration provided by the Law Council of Australia. She has practiced extensively in Family Law since 1982, after completing her Bachelor of Laws and Diploma of Legal Practice. Jenny has 36 years' experience as a legal practitioner, specialising in Family Law and defacto matters. Her previous experience as a Federal Magistrate of the Federal Magistrates Court (now the Federal Circuit Court) and Registrar of the Family Court of Australia has not only given her high-level legal knowledge, but also key insights regarding the effect of litigation on families. She has now committed her career to using that knowledge and skill base to help parties resolve their disputes in mediation.


Mr. Philip Looney KC, Barrister, 19 Inns of Court
Philip was first called to the Bar in 1996 and took silk in 2012. He has had a diverse practice spanning Family Law, Tax and Commercial litigation. His current focus is on Family Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Philip has been recognised as a leading Queensland Senior Counsel in Doyle’s Guide in Family Law since 2015. Prior to coming to the Bar, Philip had a 14-year career as a Chartered Accountant with extensive experience both in Australia and overseas. He practiced mainly in the insolvency, corporate and forensic accounting areas working mainly for KPMG or its predecessor firms. In addition to being an AIFLAM Specialist Accredited Arbitrator, Philip is a nationally accredited mediator and acts as such in family and commercial disputes. Since December 2021, Philip has been the Queensland Barrister representative member of the Executive of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia. Philip is a member of The Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators (AIFLAM). He served as its Queensland Board Member in 2020 and 2021 and is currently one of the Family Law Section’s representatives on the AIFLAM Board. Philip is a member of 19 Inns Chambers in Brisbane and French Quarter Chambers on the Gold Coast.


Christopher Bishop, Barrister, Inns of Court
Chris was admitted as a legal practitioner in 2010 and first called to the Bar in 2023. He practices in the areas of family law and administrative law. Chris is recognised as a leading expert in the child support scheme, its legislation and associated litigation. He has advised and regularly appeared on behalf of the Child Support Registrar in administrative and family law proceedings that raise child support or international child maintenance issues. Prior to being called to the Bar, Chris was the Public Law Partner at Mills Oakley, Brisbane. During his time in private practice, Chris regularly appeared as solicitor advocate in applications for review before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and applications for judicial review before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia. His main clients included Services Australia, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health and the National Disability Insurance Agency. Chris graduated from Monash University with a Master of Laws (JD) in 2010 and a Bachelor of Biomedical Science in 2003.


Jennifer Veitch, Partner, Pilot Partners
Jennifer has a commercial services background and continues to build her experience by participating in a range of assignments including business valuations, tracing exercises and commercial litigation. Jennifer also supports the Directors in industry specific valuations, independent expert reports and financial modelling.


Marg Doherty, Co-Founder, Divorce Hub
Marg Doherty began her professional life as a chartered accountant working for (what is now) PriceWaterhouseCoopers. She has more than 30 years’ professional experience, specialising in strategy, business transformation, financial performance, change management and business coaching and has worked in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and London. Marg has worked for various types of organisations from large global businesses and national organisations to professional practices and SMEs. She uses her own experience of separating as a mother of a toddler and newborn baby, returning to full-time work, juggling a sole-parenting role and navigating the family law system to empathise and support others on their divorce journey. Marg is a Certified Divorce Coach and combines her lived experience, financial management skills and divorce coaching methods to support family law clients in navigating the process of separation and divorce.