The Full Court has considered an appeal arising from property settlement orders following a 22-year marriage involving a substantial asset pool and complex trust and company interests. The decision examines whether a contractual right to
The Full Court has dismissed an appeal by a child’s paternal grandfather and step-grandmother against orders refusing them time with their four-year-old grandchild, whom they had never met. The Court rejected the argument that the
The Full Court has dismissed an appeal against final parenting and financial orders concerning a child with special needs, where the appellant father’s time was ordered to remain supervised. The Court confirmed that open-ended or
The Family Court of Western Australia dismissed a mother’s application to have parenting proceedings determined in a non-Convention country, finding the children remained habitually resident in Australia and that jurisdiction under the Family Law Act
By majority, the Court of Appeal of Western Australia held that provisions of the Surrogacy Act 2008 (WA) excluding same-sex couples from eligibility for a parentage order were inconsistent with the Sex Discrimination Act 1984
Parenting proceedings listed for a 7-day trial before Justice O’Brien in the Family Court of Western Australia. Between them, the parties sought to call evidence from 25 witnesses.
Emotional Toll and Vicarious Trauma: Family lawyers frequently deal with emotionally charged cases that can have a profound impact on their mental health. The exposure to intense emotions and traumatic experiences may lead to compassion
Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It can occur in any occupation, but it is most common in high-stress jobs, such as healthcare, law, and
Family law is emotional work. Most of us came into it to help people, not because we love timesheets. Yet the way we price our work often undermines access to justice, practitioner wellbeing, and thoughtful representation. “Profit with purpose” is not a slogan. It is a choice to design pricing models that are fair to clients, sustainable for firms, and aligned with the real value we create.
When Mia started her first job as a family lawyer, she thought the firm’s precedent and automation system was magic. With a few clicks she could produce parenting orders, property orders and affidavits that looked polished, compliant and complete.
We are now in a new age of Family Dispute Resolution (FDR), where practitioners can draw on a spectrum of processes – mediation, child-inclusive practice, collaborative law, parenting coordination, arbitration, hybrid models and more , to design pathways that match risk, complexity, culture, and client capacity.
