The journey into law…

Growing up, Jessica was always surrounded by lawyers, including her father, elder sister and many family friends. She did her year 10 work experience at the Drug Court with her sister, which was an eye-opening experience. Jessica then worked at a leading entertainment news organisation in Los Angeles for several years, and stories they broke in relation to marital separations and financial agreements always piqued her interest.

 

Once Jessica returned to Australia, she enrolled in a Juris Doctor degree and catered her course to become a family lawyer, as she always knew this was the field of law that she was most passionate about. During her practical legal training, she shadowed two barristers who have since been appointed Family Court Judges, which was a priceless experience. Prior to admission she assisted family law barristers on a free-lance basis.

 

She was admitted into the Supreme Court of NSW and joined the High Court Roll in early 2020. Jessica worked in a multi-disciplinary boutique law firm for over two and a half years, where she had the honour of running their family law department, prior to joining the Unified family.

 

Experience in family law

Since 2020, Jessica has dealt with simple to complex family law property and parenting cases with matters involving serious allegations of risk and family violence that have led to many of her matters being on the Evatt and Magellan lists. She enjoys advocating for her clients in and out of Court and mediating in order to be cost-effective and to keep the matters outside of the Court system, when appropriate.

 

She appears regularly at the Family Court and Federal Court of Australia in the Sydney and Parramatta registries, including but not limited to interim hearings, final hearings, urgent recovery applications and appeal hearings.

 

She takes great pride in her work and obtaining results that allow her clients to spend time with their children after periods of separation, noting that children deserve the right to a meaningful relationship with both parents. Jessica is currently undertaking her Master of Applied Law in Family Law as she likes challenging herself and has a passion for consistently learning about family law. She also understands the importance of maintaining good relationships with other family law practitioners.

 

Other areas of expertise

Jessica has appeared in a variety of local courts in criminal matters, the Supreme Court and District Court for civil matters, the Children’s Court in both criminal and care proceedings and has also dealt with probate matters in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

 

The passion for family law

Since Jessica studied Social Work as an undergraduate, she always wanted to help people during difficult times. She has an empathetic attitude and ensures that her clients’ needs are met whilst ensuring that their expectations are reasonable. Jessica understands that there’s no black and white approach to family law and provides her clients with the support that they require going through this difficult time.

 

Jessica prides herself on being “more than just another lawyer”, as she makes sure she is familiar with all her clients’ individual needs, and tailors her advice to their circumstances. Jessica understands the importance of making her clients’ feeling heard, comfortable, and providing them with legal advice that is in their best interests and ensuring a just and equitable outcome.

 

Our care for clients

Jessica excels in problem-solving, and the organisational planning required to achieve the best possible outcome for her clients, whilst maintaining a friendly and approachable relationship. Jessica also works closely with pre-eminent barristers in NSW.

 

Jessica has experience in all areas of family law including divorce, property settlements, parenting matter, spousal maintenance, child support and financial agreements and matters involving de-facto relationships and same-sex couples. She understands the stresses that arise from matters of this nature and works hard to ensure her client’s needs during this difficult time are met.

 

Why Unified?

Having practised mostly family law in a boutique firm, Jessica thought it was time to join a bigger team of family law practitioners.

 

Passion outside of the law

Jessica enjoys spending time with friends, family and her dog, Gigi. She also enjoys exploring new places, loves cooking and hosting dinner parties, swimming, and Pilates, and tries to read one book a week.

 

Other languages

Jessica can speak basic German and French.