Jason Walker (Chair)
Forté Family Lawyers
- Level 15, 600 Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9248 5800
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Jason Walker joined the Section Executive as the Victorian Solicitor representative in December 2018 and was elected as Treasurer in December 2020, Deputy Chair in June 2021 and Chair in 2024.
Jason is a Partner at Forté Family Lawyers and is an Accredited Specialist in Family Law (2005). His practice involves complex property and complex parenting disputes.
Jason has previously served as the Chair of the Family Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) and is a current member of the Executive of the LIV Family Law Section. He has also served on a number of LIV committees and was a founding member of the LIV Children’s Law Specialisation Advisory Committee, which is responsible for assessing and examining candidates for specialisation in Children’s Law.
Jason was the Deputy Chair of the Family Law Section’s National Family Law Conference held in Melbourne 2016.
Jason is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a member of Pacifica Congress.
Jason is regularly named in the Doyle’s Guide list of Leading Family and Divorce Lawyers (Melbourne). Jason has also been ranked in the Doyle’s Guide list of Leading High-Value & Complex Property Matters Family Lawyers (Melbourne) and list of Preeminent Parenting & Children's Matters Lawyers (Victoria).
Jamie Burreket (Deputy Chair)
Broun Abrahams Burreket
- Level 23, 66 Goulburn Street, Sydney 3000
Telephone: (02) 8268 8700
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Jamie is the Managing Director of Broun Abrahams Burreket Family Lawyers, one of Sydney's largest boutique Family Law firms. He is an accredited specialist in Family Law in NSW and has consistently been ranked by his peers in the Doyle's Guide as Preeminent both Nationally and in New South Wales. Jamie was elected Deputy Chair of the Section in 2024.
Jamie's practice, like most Family Lawyers, spans both financial and parenting matters but he has developed a specialty in the more complex issues that arise like challenges to Binding Financial Agreements, jurisdictional choices, opposition to single expert evidence, claims in equity, and the intersection of tax planning and property settlement.
He is a member of the Family Law Issues Committee of the NSW Law Society, the Australian Institue of Company Directors, the Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals, and the International Academy of Family Lawyers. Jamie regularly speaks at State and National Conferences and has presented overseas on complex Family Law issues to other Family Law experts. He authors articles and presentations in Family Law annually. He was a member of the organising committee for Sydney's National Family Law Section Conference and has contributed to submissions made by the Family Law Section on law reform in recent years.
Nicola Watts (Treasurer)
O'Sullivan Davies Lawyers
- Level 27, 197 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000
Phone: (08) 9426 4711
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Nicola joined the Section Executive as the Western Australian representative in November 2016 and was elected Treasurer in June 2021. Nicola was the Chair of the Organising Committee for the FLS 20th National Family Law Conference which was held in Perth in October 2024.
Nicola completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Tasmania and was admitted to practice in 1993, after completing articles in Hobart. After working in Launceston for several years, Nicola moved to Melbourne where she worked exclusively in family law between 1997 and 2013.
Whilst in Victoria, Nicola trained as a Mediator and Collaborative Lawyer. Since moving to Perth she has also trained as an Arbitrator. From 1995 to 2018 Nicola acted as Independent Children's Lawyer in Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. In 2011 Nicola was made Citizen of the Year by the City of Stonnington for her service to youth. She has been recognised by Doyle's Guide as a Leading Parenting & Children's Matters Lawyer in Western Australia.
Nicola moved to Western Australia in June 2013 and joined O'Sullivan Davies in July 2018 and was made a partner in January 2020. O'Sullivan Davies has been listed as a First Tier Family Law firm in Doyle's Guide each year since 2012 and is the only nationally recognised Western Australia firm. It has a long history of supporting FLS with 3 partners acting as WA Representative, and as a major sponsor at National Conferences for many years.
Nicola has served on the Board of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators (AIFLAM) and sits as FLS Representative on the Council of the Family Law Practitioners Association of Western Australia (FLPA). Nicola also sits on the Legal Aid WA Review Committee.
Peter Cummings SC
WARATAH CHAMBERS
Peter's main area of practice is in Family Law, both trial and appellate work. He is a qualified Arbitrator under the Family Law Act and is a member of the NSW Bar Association's Family Law Committee and represents that committee in the Family Courts Users Group.
Kate Alroe
LANDER & ROGERS
Kate works exclusively in Family Law at Lander & Rogers. She has been in practice for over a decade, working across Queensland in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Townsville, and has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing family law practices in both major cities and regional areas.
Alison James
MITCHELL CHAMBERS
Alison's family law experience spans 30 years now. She is a barrister, Advanced Family Law Arbitrator, Accredited Family Law Specialist, Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, and Accredited mediator.
Philip Looney KC
19 INNS CHAMBERS
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 since 2015 as a leading Senior Counsel in Doyle’s guide to Leading Family Law Senior Counsel – Queensland.
Trevor McKenna
DERWENT & TAMAR CHAMBERS
Trevor joined the Section Executive as the Tasmanian representative in June 2021.
Before being called to the bar in 2023, Trevor was a senior associate at Ogilvie Jennings (Doyle’s Guide Tier 1 family law firm in Tasmania). During his 15 years as a solicitor, Trevor regularly appeared as counsel in courts and tribunals both at first instance and on appeal.
Dr Robin Smith
HOLMES LIST
Robin Smith was called to the Victorian Bar in 2009. He practices exclusively in family law, specialising in matters with complex questions of law, including matters with issues related to bankruptcy, equity, trusts, and third-party disputes. He has a strong appeal practice, regularly drafting appeal documents and appearing at appeal hearings. He is a qualified family law arbitrator.
Jaquie Palavra
NORTHERN TERRITORY LEGAL AID COMMISSION
Jaquie re-joined the Executive in November 2023 after being the first NT representative to be elected in 2016.
Jaquie was admitted as a solicitor in 1988 in New South Wales where she joined a small general practise in Milson’s Point and later the Central Coast. She took a break from the law to travel, live and work abroad for 10 years studying dry-cargo shipbroking and becoming a Member of the Institute of Charted Shipbrokers, London, whilst working in a small dry-cargo shipbroking firm, in north Italy.
Jessica Cruise
LEGAL AID ACT
Jessica was admitted to practice in the ACT in 2004. She practiced in community legal centres in Queensland and Sydney before joining Legal Aid WA in 2009. She returned to the ACT in 2018 and spent a year in private practice before joining Legal Aid ACT in 2019.
Jessica completed her Independent Children’s Lawyer training in 2009 and has acted predominantly as an ICL since that time.