Samantha is a lawyer in the Melbourne office of Lander & Rogers' Family & Relationship Law Team, having worked almost exclusively in family law since her admission to practice in 2021.
Samantha is recognised for her dedication to her clients, and her empathetic, highly commercial, child-focussed and strategic approach to family law.
Samantha believes that every family is unique, and no two family law matters should be approached in the same way. She focusses on the priorities of her clients and their families by offering highly personalised, thoughtful and commercial family law advice.
Samantha is passionate about guiding her clients through their family law journey as swiftly and as cost effectively as possible, to enable them to move on to the next chapter of their lives. Her first preference is to reach a resolution outside of court, and she has extensive experience negotiating outcomes for her clients at mediations and conferences. Where litigation is necessary, Samantha is a skilled advocate who will work closely with her clients as she guides them through the court process.
Experience
Samantha has expertise representing clients from all walks of life and backgrounds. She has strong experience in these areas:
- Complex financial agreements: Samantha has extensive experience drafting highly sophisticated and tailored financial agreements to aide in asset protection, at all stages of her clients' relationships. These agreements are particularly advantageous for high-net worth families and individuals, particularly in the context of family offices and intergenerational wealth transfers.
- Property settlements: Samantha is a fearless negotiator, proficient in negotiating property settlements for her clients and preparing all settlement documents to reflect the agreement reached. Samantha has particular expertise in complex property matters and is highly skilled in drafting court material, where court proceedings are initiated.
- Parenting matters: Samantha prides herself on adopting a child-focussed, empathetic and pragmatic approach to complex parenting matters. Samantha has a particular expertise in parental alienation, risk concerns and allegations of abuse and family violence.
- Child support agreements: Samantha has extensive experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating child support agreements. These agreements enable families to reach a private arrangement for the support of their children, including payment of school fees and health expenses, with certainty and clarity.
Career highlights
Samantha's career highlights include:
- Successfully objecting to the production of all documents sought pursuant to subpoenae with respect to her client's parents' family business, including successfully obtaining a cost order in her client's favour to recover costs incurred as a result of defending and objecting to the subpoenae.
- Obtaining an order for professional supervision for the children's time with her client's former partner, in order to protect the children who had been subjected to coercive control and significant family violence and abuse.
Drafting sophisticated and water-tight financial agreements to support asset protection for various family members, particularly for the provision of intergenerational financial gifts.
Client feedback
What Samantha's clients say:
"I'm sure you deal with difficult situations as part of your daily job… I cannot thank you enough for your legal help but mostly your interpersonal intuition and skills that helped me through the worst thing I've ever had to deal with. I thank you so much from the deepest part of my being! I'm in tears as I etch this out. You saved my life, Sam!"
"Thank you for your help and support over the last few years with my financial settlement. It’s been a long road and I appreciate all your hard work. I can finally move on. I feel that we got the best outcome possible. You are truly an amazing lawyer!"
FAQs
I don't want to go to Court…how can Samantha help me reach an agreement with my former partner?
The vast majority of Samantha's matters resolve at a private mediation without the need for litigation. Samantha prides herself on providing clients with practical, realistic and commercial advice as to their entitlements under the Family Law Act and reaching a swift agreement by way of either letter exchange, a round table conference, or a private mediation.