Lucy is an accredited Family Law Specialist and a co-director at Paterson & Dowding, having joined the firm in 1990. Lucy has a particular interest in parenting issues. She is passionate about minimising the fallout of relationship breakdowns for families, both financially and emotionally, and promoting child focused decisions and behaviours.
In addition to private client work, Lucy is a highly experienced Independent Children’s Lawyer. In this role Lucy assists the Family Court in complex parenting disputes, involving a range of serious allegations including, but not limited to, family violence, physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children. Lucy performs a similar role as Child Representative in Care and Protection Matters dealt with in the Children’s Court. Lucy has undertaken extensive trial work in both capacities.
Lucy has extensive experience as a mediator and has chaired many mediation conferences in relation to both parenting and financial issues. She is also a qualified Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner registered with the Attorney General’s Department. In her capacity as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner Lucy is able to assist family members to resolve their dispute and develop their own child focused solutions in a confidential mediation forum.
Lucy also assists with surrogacy matters and has represented many applicant parents in relation to children with Gender Dysphoria.
Lucy is regularly invited to speak at Family Law related seminars and conferences, and most recently at the 2022 National Family Law conference in Adelaide to share her extensive knowledge and experience. Lucy has been named one of the pre-eminent lawyers in Parenting and Children’s matters by Doyle’s, 2018 to 2023. Lucy has recently been nominated as a finalist in the 2023 Attorney General’s Community Service Law Awards.
In her spare time Lucy enjoys the company of some great friends, with whom she regularly walks, plays Mahjong and catches up for coffees/meals with. She enjoys history, her 2 dogs and aspires to travel as much as she can in the future.
