David is one of the most senior and experienced specialist Family Lawyers in Australia, having practised principally in Family Law since his admission to practise in 1972 as a 23 year old. David set up practice on his own account in 1974 and since the introduction of the Family Law Act in Australia in 1976 has practised exclusively in Family Law.

David's enthusiasm for the practise of Family Law and representing his clients has never waned. Perceived by others as a tough and uncompromising litigator and negotiator, he is driven by a desire to get the best possible result (both financially and personally) for clients.

His experience, interest and speciality is acting for high net worth individuals or their spouses in matters that are complex, whether financially or personally. His experience suits him well unravelling complex corporate and trust structures.

He continues to develop his knowledge for clients relating to niche areas in Family Law such as the tax aspects of settlement, superannuation issues, child support trusts, innovative pre-nuptial and post nuptial agreements, the complexities of valuations and cases involving international jurisdictional issues.

Having been a member of the Law Society of South Australia Family Law Committee for many years, these days he is an enthusiastic attendee of Family Law conferences, both in Australia and overseas, to ensure he is always up to date with the latest local and overseas developments. He is an energetic member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, a Notary Public and one of only two South Australian Solicitors to be a Fellow of the prestigious International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (IAML).

He writes and speaks on Family Law issues but has chosen in recent years to devote most of his time to his practice.

He has and maintains excellent contacts and friendships with Family Lawyers all over Australia and overseas.

Sam Burrell grew up in Adelaide and was admitted to practise in Adelaide in 1998, having completed his Law Degree in Darwin.

Following his admission to practise, he worked for some months under the tutelage of Vickie Chapman (now the Deputy Opposition Leader of the Liberal Party in South Australia) in her then specialised Family Law practice.

In many ways Sam's experience in Family Law is unique, having always practised exclusively in the Family Law area and the vast majority of his experience has been in cases involving Family Law money disputes.
    
After a year of extensive travel around America and Europe, he worked for a period of time as a para-legal in London involved in a major pension fraud case.

When he returned to Australia in late 1999, he moved interstate and since then has practised only in Family Law, initially in a small boutique firm and then until the end of 2006, in the prestigious Family Law department at Middletons Lawyers in Melbourne.

His practice in Melbourne related to all financial aspects of Family Law cases. He has always been interested in the tactics of negotiation and litigation and whilst practising in Melbourne, had a broad range of experience in financial matters to do with property settlement, spousal maintenance and child support issues.

Melbourne also gave him the opportunity to work with and against some of the most experienced Family Law Solicitors in Australia involving a substantial number of big money matters where Senior Counsel were briefed on both sides. He prides himself on his ability to read and understand complex company, trust, partnership and superannuation financial statements and to ferret out hidden assets and income. He is very experienced in briefing Barristers for trials and has been involved in substantial interim and final hearings in the Family Court. He takes the time and trouble to prepare the best possible written presentations for round table conferences, whether conducted informally or under the auspices of the Court and in putting together a brief for Counsel. He chooses to argue many of his own interim hearings in Court himself.

He takes a broad ranging approach to the preparation and conduct of matters, giving particular thought and his expertise to valuation issues, tactical decisions and presentation issues. He has particularly good knowledge and experience in complex child support issues and the negotiation and preparation of Living Together and Pre-Nuptial Agreements. He is unflappable in a crisis and prepared to go the extra yards and put in the extra hours where necessary, to conduct a client's case at the highest level. Given his experience in Melbourne he has, for his years, very substantial experience in difficult and complex financial cases. He is a regular attendee at conferences and seminars.

He is a member of the Law Society of South Australia and the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.

In 2007 Sam became one of the small number of practitioners in Adelaide to be entitled to be designated as an Accredited Specialist in Family Law after completing the inaugural Law Society of South Australia Specialist Accreditation course.

After graduating from the Law School at Adelaide University with Honours in July 2005, Alicia secured a spot for herself as a clerk at a well known Adelaide based commercial law firm, but already knew that the discipline she wanted to specialise in was Family Law. As with most things in her life, Alicia was persistent in pursuing this ambition and soon managed to work her way into the Family Law department prior to her admission to the Bar in the Supreme Court of South Australia. By way of a baptism by fire, Alicia was introduced to the many aspects of a busy commercial Family Law practice and has continued to practise solely in the jurisdiction ever since.

Whilst somewhat baby-faced, Alicia has in her career amassed substantial experience in difficult matters involving both property settlement and children's issues. She has been involved in complex and protracted litigation of property settlement matters involving commercial areas of law such as bankruptcy, corporate/company and trust law. The exposure Alicia gained from working in a commercial law firm has meant that she has a commercial nous not always found in Family Lawyers.

Whilst she enjoys the challenge of complex property settlements which forms most of her practice these days, Alicia also enjoys and has considerable experience in running children's matters from straightforward live-with/spend-time-with issues to international and domestic relocation matters. No matter how complex the matter, Alicia works vigorously to ensure that the case put forward for her client is well presented, leading to the best possible outcome for her clients.

Alicia also has significant experience dealing with defacto relationships and domestic partnerships. She has run and settled a number of defacto matters and is well versed in drawing Settlement Agreements and Consent Orders for clients for whom she has been able to secure an agreed settlement without litigation.

Preparing and advising on Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements also forms part of Alicia's repertoire and she understands the importance of drafting these Agreements in a timely fashion and in such a manner that her clients are well protected.

Alicia has built strong relationships with many of Adelaide's well known Family Law Barristers and she is experienced in briefing Counsel in a wide range of Family Law matters.

Alicia is a current member of the Family Law Committee of the Law Society of South Australia and was, until recently, the Deputy Chair, a position she held for three years.

Alicia prides herself on her diligent approach to all matters and her personable manner with her clients. She is an empathetic and sensible practitioner, but also a strong and effective advocate for her clients. She is highly skilled and works hard to achieve the best possible result for her clients.

Alicia, having completed the Law Society of South Australia course for specialist accreditation, is the second member of our Firm who is now a designated Accredited Specalist in Family Law.

Victoria spent her first 19 years in Adelaide until she moved to Darwin where she completed a Bachelor of Law Degree and Bachelor of Arts Degree (Politics) in 1996 from the Northern Territory University.  In 1997 Victoria completed her Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice at the University of South Australia and in September of that year was admitted to practise in the Supreme Court of South Australia and the High Court of Australia.

In her early years of practice, Victoria was exposed to a flurry of general litigation in a boutique Adelaide law firm in the areas of Criminal Law, Wills & Estates, Personal Injuries, Criminal Injuries Compensation, Guardianship and Family Law and it was in Family Law that she quickly found her niche.

In 2004 Victoria joined an Adelaide Commercial Law firm in the Family Law section where she remained until late 2007 when she and her family relocated to Cottesloe, Western Australia.

Whilst in Perth, Victoria was fortunate enough to work with some of Western Australia's leading Family Lawyers and in the premier Family Law firm, O'Sullivan Davies, from 2008 until late 2011 when she and her family returned to Adelaide.

Given Western Australia's unique state Family Court and Defacto Legislation, Victoria became attuned to Western Australia's defacto jurisdiction, well before the adoption of similar legislation in South Australia under the Family Law Act.

Whilst in Perth, Victoria was involved in domestic, national and international relocation cases, representing clients in Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

During her career, Victoria has gained extensive experience in all facets of Family Law including divorce, property settlement, children's issues, surrogacy, maintenance, child support, Binding Financial Agreements (pre nuptial and post separation) and asset protection.

Victoria's experience ranges from assisting clients reach agreement through negotiated settlements where possible through to representing them as Counsel in various forums including State Magistrates Court, Tribunals, Youth Court, District Court, Supreme Court, Federal Magistrates Court and Family Courts in South Australia and Western Australia.  For many years she was also a regular on the regional Ceduna Magistrates Court Circuit.

Victoria is admitted to practise in both South Australia and Western Australia.  During her career she has been a member of many bodies including the South Australian Law Society, Chairperson of the New Lawyers Committee (SA), member of the Executive Council of the South Australian Law Society, member of the National Family Lawyers body, the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, member of the Western Australian Law Society and member of the Western Australian Family Lawyers Practitioners Association.  Victoria has also been a facilitator in various legal topics for the Law Graduates through the South Australian Law Society's Practical Legal Program. 

Victoria provides a sensitive, committed and professional approach to all clients who seek her advice;  no task is too small or too large.

Megan Sweetlove grew up in the Adelaide Hills and after completing her Law Degree and gaining admission to the Bar, she determined that she wanted to live somewhere warm for a period of time and moved to tropical Cairns in Far North Queensland where she practised for four years.

Megan completed a Psychology Degree in 2002 and recognised that she craved a career where she felt she had a more defined, tangible and practical role in helping people who found themselves in difficult circumstances.

She returned to University and completed her Law Degree in 2006.  She then practised with a well known firm in Cairns, gaining broad experience in Family Law, acting for clients in property settlement matters, children's matters and many cases involving aspects of both.  During her career she has practised almost exclusively in the Family Law field, running cases involving children's issues and property settlement matters for marital and defacto situations. 

She prides herself on being an empathetic and sensible lawyer who provides her clients with pragmatic and realistic advice.  Her previous studies in Psychology assist her greatly in the assessment of matters and the appropriate way to conduct them, whether it be by attempting to negotiate a settlement or, in appropriate cases, to litigate in the Courts.

Megan is a very organised practitioner and quite particular about presentation and drafting of documents.

She is admitted to practice in both South Australia and Queensland, is a member of the Law Society of South Australia and a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.

She is passionate about Family Law, reads widely on Family Law topics and is an enthusiastic attendee at Family Law seminars and conferences.