Media Release | Gadens to cease practising family law as part of a renewed focus on corporate and commercial law offerings

Gadens has announced that under its revised strategic plan, the firm will shift its focus to providing a full service corporate and commercial law offering. The firm will cease providing family law services as a result after 30 September 2021.

“The decision on ceasing to provide family law services is driven in part by the desire by many of our clients to separate their business and personal needs, and the trend to family law focussed firms”, says Mark Pistilli, Gadens CEO.

“Our focus will be on providing corporate and high net worth clients a quality offering in core legal areas including banking and finance, corporate and tax, disputes and investigations, employment advisory, intellectual property and technology, and real estate and construction.”

The firm’s existing family law team in Melbourne (including partners Rose Lockie and Jason Walker) and Sydney (including partner Paul Lewis) will move to Forte Family Lawyers and Eakin McCaffery Cox, respectively. Gadens will refer its family law related matters to the former Gadens family law team so that any Gadens clients in need of any family law services will still have the benefit of the deep expertise and excellence of its family law team in family law focussed practices.

“Our family law team has been an integral part of the firm for many years, with some team members being at the firm for 20-plus years. The partners have been highly-recognised and consistently ranked in leading law firm and individual rankings in the practice of family law such as Doyle’s Guide and Best Lawyers over the years. I am confident that we will continue to have strong ties with them for many years to come and Gadens will continue to do things together with the Gadens family law partners”, concludes Mark.

About the Gadens Family Law Team

Rose Lockie and Jason Walker, both family law partners in Gadens’ family law team for over 20 years in our Melbourne office, are highly recognised and have been consistently ranked in leading law firm and individual rankings in the practice of family law such as Doyle’s Guide (including in the lists of Leading Family & Divorce Lawyers and Leading Family Lawyers (High-Value & Complex Property Matters)) and Best Lawyers over the years, with their recognition ensuring that Gadens as a firm has also been consistently ranked in the leading category of firms in Melbourne for family law services, to date.  They are both Accredited Family Law Specialists with Jason Walker also holding a second accreditation in Children’s Law.

Rose Lockie and Jason Walker are joining Forte Family Lawyers. Jason Walker will join as a partner at Forte on 1 July 2021 while Rose Lockie, who has led the family law practice at Gadens since establishing Gadens’ family law practice in 1995, will join Forte as a partner on 1 October 2021, and will continue to receive and service family law referrals whilst still a partner at Gadens.

Paul Lewis, the former Gadens family law partner in Sydney, is an Accredited Family Law Specialist of many years’ standing and an Accredited Specialist in Dispute Resolution, who prior to joining Gadens was a partner in his own boutique family law firm for many years. Paul is highly respected for his expertise in all aspects of family law as well as his lengthy experience as a nationally accredited mediator and collaborative family lawyer. Paul is joining the Sydney firm, Eakin McCaffery Cox on 1 July 2021 as a partner to lead a family law focussed practice at that firm.