Marie Fedorov
Director
As Director of the highly regarded boutique firm Fedorov Family Lawyers and Family Mediation Station, Marie Fedorov brings over 20 years of experience and knowledge as a family lawyer. With her collaborative law background and mediation skills Marie is a thought leader in family law offering a unique approach to family law matters focusing on out of Court solutions to stop the heartache so that her clients can move on with their lives.
Marie offers support and guidance through Fedorov Family Lawyers unique separation and support service to emotionally support clients and empower them to make considered decisions when negotiating outcomes. Friendly and approachable, Marie is not only dedicated to understanding client needs but is also committed to thinking “outside the square” to provide customised professional advice to clients in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Clients value Marie for her breadth of knowledge and ability to provide clear strategies and pathways to move forward in an area of law that can often be complex and difficult to navigate.
As an active Mum of two young boys, Marie loves spending time with her husband and family, running (not only around after her boys!), cooking up a storm and traveling.
Marie Fedorov
Director
As Director of the highly regarded boutique firm Fedorov Family Lawyers and Family Mediation Station, Marie Fedorov brings over 20 years of experience and knowledge as a family lawyer. With her collaborative law background and mediation skills Marie is a thought leader in family law offering a unique approach to family law matters focusing on out of Court solutions to stop the heartache so that her clients can move on with their lives.
Marie offers support and guidance through Fedorov Family Lawyers unique separation and support service to emotionally support clients and empower them to make considered decisions when negotiating outcomes. Friendly and approachable, Marie is not only dedicated to understanding client needs but is also committed to thinking “outside the square” to provide customised professional advice to clients in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Clients value Marie for her breadth of knowledge and ability to provide clear strategies and pathways to move forward in an area of law that can often be complex and difficult to navigate.
As an active Mum of two young boys, Marie loves spending time with her husband and family, running (not only around after her boys!), cooking up a storm and traveling.
Tawnee Dickinson
Principal of our Perth Office
Tawnee is Principal of our Perth office and practises in the area of Family Law and Restraining Orders. Tawnee has dealt with many complex children issues, family and domestic violence, divorce and financial settlements. Tawnee is dedicated to achieving just results for her clients, in a cost efficient manner.
In 2017, Tawnee graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Laws after receiving the Harry Perkins Scholarship in 2013 to study. During her degree, she was selected to study four international intensive units at Ghent University in Belgium. Tawnee was admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia as a Legal Practitioner in 2017 and was listed on the role of practitioners in the High Court of Australia in 2019. Tawnee completed the practice management course in 2024 and has experience working in boutique firms, as well as top tier and Doyle’s listed firms making her an excellent choice to be your Family Lawyer.
Tawnee is the Family Lawyer for you if you are looking for an experienced advocate as she has represented many of her clients directly at Family Court Hearings and Restraining Order Final Order Hearings. Tawnee understands the dynamics and cross over between Family Violence Restraining Orders and Family Court and as a former country girl, she not only understands farming families and how farming businesses are structed, she is also approachable and friendly to deal with.
Jade Turner
Special Counsel and Head of our Criminal Law Division
Jade is a highly experienced criminal lawyer with a diverse background in both prosecution and defence. Her extensive courtroom experience provides a well-rounded perspective, ensuring that clients receive expert legal representation during each step of the process.
Known for a client-centred approach, Jade provides personalised service that addresses each client’s specific needs and objectives. Jade combines a tenacious spirit with a relentless commitment to fighting for clients’ rights, tackling even the most challenging cases with unwavering determination.
Jade’s exceptional negotiation skills have consistently delivered impressive results, turning complex legal challenges into successful resolutions. Jade’s ability to navigate the intricacies of the criminal justice system ensures that every client receives strategic and effective advocacy.
When clients choose Jade, they gain a devoted advocate who stands firmly by their side, guiding them through every step of their legal journey
Kate Wells
Senior Associate
Kate is a lawyer whose passion is domestic violence and family law. She has been successful in recovering children who have been wrongly removed and in obtaining permission for parents to remove children to other jurisdictions. Kate is always ready to robustly assert her client’s rights and has a proven track record in both negotiation successful outcomes at both mediation and at trial stages. Her ability is to the think outside the square, seeking to find resolution in proceedings whenever appropriate. With over six years’ experience on the Gold Coast, working with domestic violence survivors, and complex parenting matters, she brings a non-judgemental and compassionate advocacy to our team.
Outside of work, Kate is a keen runner, enjoys boxing, snow-skiing and travel.
John Mona
Senior Associate
John is an experienced family lawyer dedicated to helping individuals navigate the complexities of family law. With a focus on Property Settlements, Parenting Arrangements, and Family Violence Intervention Orders, John provides compassionate, skilled legal representation tailored to each client’s unique situation.
Admitted to practice in 2021, John has been part of a law firm since 2019, gaining valuable experience and a deep understanding of family law. John is passionate about supporting individuals and families during tough times, offering both legal expertise and emotional support to help them navigate the complexities of family law with confidence and clarity. John believes that every client deserves a fair resolution, and works tirelessly to ensure their rights are protected and their futures are secured
Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as playing and watching AFL. John is also an avid golfer, making time for the game whenever possible.
Catherine
Paralegal
Catherine Buswell is our hardworking and enthusiastic Paralegal who joined Fedorov Family Lawyers in April 2024.
Catherine brings a high level of operational integrity to the firm, whilst her knowledge of family law allows her to offer tailored support to our clients.
She has a strong passion for family law and is constantly looking for ways to broaden her knowledge, whilst also performing a variety of tasks to provide support to our Director and team of lawyers here at Fedorov.
Our paralegals are the backbone of our firm, ensuring seamless operations and often serving as the first point of contact for our clients. The team’s diverse backgrounds and professional skills contribute significantly to our firm’s success.
Outside of work Catherine enjoys spending time with her family & friends and hiking.
Katrina Taylor
Solicitor
Katrina is experienced across a range of family law areas and has a particular interest in Domestic Violence work. She has practiced in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Northern Rivers, and Newcastle regions.
Katrina can assist in property settlement, parenting disputes, mediation, Consent Orders, Divorce, Prenuptial Agreements, and Domestic Violence.
She assists clients in avoiding court proceedings wherever possible, allowing them to settle property and parenting matters and to save unnecessary cost, stress, and delay. Katrina always thinks outside the box to achieve the best possible outcomes for the client.
In her spare time, Katrina loves spending time with her friends and family (especially her son), travelling, and experiencing new and exciting cafes and restaurants.
Liz Turrini
Legal Assistant
Liz has been in the legal profession for the past 15 years, with particular experience in community legal centres. She has worked in many areas of law at the Legal Services Commission of South Australia as a legal and administrative assistant. She is currently studying towards her Bachelor of Law degree at CDU with a passion for family law and mediation in children’s matters.
Her genuine interest and caring nature allows clients to feel at ease in an environment that can be unfamiliar and quite stressful.
In her spare time Liz enjoys the beach, spending time with family and friends, travelling and experiencing new things.
Leanne Stuchbery
Senior Associate
Leanne is an experience family lawyer, practicing for over 17 years across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and in Melbourne. Drawing together a wide range of experience and knowledge through this time, Leanne applies her strong knowledge of family law issues to assist clients through negotiations and in the various aspects of litigation and court proceedings.
Leanne can assist in property settlement, parenting matters and child support matters and has a particular interest in finding creative solutions in property settlement matters to meet her client’s needs/objectives.
Clients value Leanne’s empathy and ability to provide clear legal advice and options on issues that can often be particularly difficult and emotional. In her spare time, Leanne enjoys spending time with her family, yoga and baking with her children.
Amanda White
Reception
With over thirty years of experience in front-of-office positions, Aroha O’Brien is a friendly and professional first point of contact at the firm.
With a strong corporate background, Aroha is able to provide you with highly effective information and support. Her understanding, empathetic manner, and genuine interest in assisting clients will help you feel comfortable and at ease in what can sometimes be an unfamiliar environment.
In her spare time, Aroha enjoys a very busy family life, being inspired to tackle new creative projects around the home and renovating old furniture…. but she is never too busy to listen to and spend time with friends.
Our Core Values
To be real.
Solving real problems for real people.
We understand that life isn’t always clear-cut. Family
problems can be messy, emotional, divisive and difficult to
navigate when you are in the midst of things. Working with
one of our experienced team means that we can often “see:
the forest rather than the trees” and guide you towards the
life outcomes that you are after.
To have integrity
To be reliable, honest, and fair.
This means that we will be there to support you when
and where we say we will. Our team pride themselves
on adhering to the highest of ethical standards and
will provide honest and fair advice and guidance.
To empower
Empower others to make good decisions.
By working closely with you and providing you with detailed
information and insights into your legal issues, we enable you to fully understand your options and to make strong choices for your future.
Angela Kurtz
General Manager
Angela provides a positive and steadying influence across the firm and enjoys tackling the many and varied aspects of practice management. She provides operational management across HR, marketing and business development, IT/systems, office logistics, and drives various projects across the firm.
With over 20 years in legal professional services, Angela has extensive experience in a range of mid-tier and national roles across HR, management, and marketing/communications, with a particular interest in people and performance. Angela is a firm believer in life-long learning and has presented at numerous forums on various HR and practice management topics.
She is particularly interested in high-performing teams, innovation through technology and enjoys working with the FEDOROV Family Lawyers team to ensure client service standards remain at the highest level.
With a teenage son at University and hubbie working in IT, Angela enjoys spending time being active in various sporting activities with the family, playing the piano and planning future travel adventures!
Tina Dawson
Special Counsel
With over 20 years in the legal profession, Tina has worked in several high-profile legal firms in Sydney as a legal secretary and paralegal before completing her law degree and being admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW in 2007.
Practicing predominantly in country and coastal NSW before joining Fedorov Family Lawyers as Special Counsel, Tina has experience in a wide range of legal practice areas including conveyancing, commercial law, building and construction law, Wills and Estates and civil litigation. However, Tina’s real passion has been working in the family law area.
Helping families and couples through the separation process comes at a difficult time for most and Tina aims to provide support, guidance and clear legal advice. She continues to be on the NSW Legal Aid Family Law Panel, working with less advantaged families. An advocate for early dispute resolution, Tina works with client to potentially save considerable time, legal costs, and stress if matters can be resolved without protracted litigation.
As a single mother, Tina enjoys her downtime spending time with her children and family. She likes to get away whenever she can with good food and company.
Natasha Harris
Senior Family Lawyer
Practicing exclusively in family law for over ten years, Natasha is passionate about helping her clients resolve their property settlement matters as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.
Natasha has a particular interest in alternate dispute resolution which can often achieve a more efficient, discrete and harmonious resolution for clients.
Clients appreciate Natasha’s deep experience and honest advice in assisting with their family law issues, with many positive testimonials and referrals received.
In her spare time, Natasha enjoys spending time with family and friends and travelling.
Leanne Stuchbery
Senior Associate
Leanne is an experience family lawyer, practicing for over 17 years across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and in Melbourne.
Drawing together a wide range of experience and knowledge through this time, Leanne applies her strong knowledge of family law issues to assist clients through negotiations and in the various aspects of litigation and court proceedings.
Leanne can assist in property settlement, parenting matters and child support matters and has a particular interest in finding creative solutions in property settlement matters to meet her client’s needs/objectives.
Clients value Leanne’s empathy and ability to provide clear legal advice and options on issues that can often be particularly difficult and emotional.
In her spare time, Leanne enjoys spending time with her family, yoga and baking with her children.
Katrina Taylor
Solicitor
Katrina is experienced across a range of family law areas and has a particular interest in Domestic Violence work. She has practiced in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Northern Rivers, and Newcastle regions.
Katrina can assist in property settlement, parenting disputes, mediation, Consent Orders, Divorce, Prenuptial Agreements, and Domestic Violence.
She assists clients in avoiding court proceedings wherever possible, allowing them to settle property and parenting matters and to save unnecessary cost, stress, and delay. Katrina always thinks outside the box to achieve the best possible outcomes for the client.
In her spare time, Katrina loves spending time with her friends and family (especially her son), travelling, and experiencing new and exciting cafes and restaurants.
Michel Benedetti
Senior Associate
Michel is a diversified legal practitioner with over ten years post-admission experience. For over six years he has focused on building a strong reputation in family law on the Gold Coast and South-East Queensland area.
As an experienced negotiator, Michael has achieved many quality outcomes across the spectrum of family law areas whilst always providing a high quality of personalised client service. As an experienced solicitor-advocacate and trusted advisor, he has represented numerous client both in court proceedings and in mediations.
Between 2018 and 2020, Michel took up a legal in-house role with the headquarters of an international non-governmental organization, working in corporate governance and compliance, property and land, contracts, banking, taxation, privacy, employment and litigation.
In 2021, he returned to the field of family and re-joined Fedorov Family Lawyers, having worked at the firm previously between 2016 and 2018.
Michel has a particular interest in forms of alternate dispute resolution, such as mediation, and how they can help clients achieve better outcomes without the need for expensive and protracted litigation.
Outside of work, Michel enjoys spending time with his family and playing soccer. He is an avid supporter of his favourite team, Juventus FC.
Vicki Petersen
Legal Secretary/Assistant
Vicki has a strong background in family law and understands what is involved in the efficient administration and running of family law matters.
When not at work you can find Vicki spending time with her family, taking the grandchildren on adventures, reading a good book or listening to her eclectic taste in music(!).
Lateesha Bell
Legal Assistant
Lateesha has worked as a Legal Assistant in the area of Family Law for over ten years. Her empathetic nature is something that our clients really appreciate as they go through the emotional divorce process.
In her spare time, Lateesha enjoys travelling, spending time at the beach, jet skiing and catching up with friends and family.
Aroha O’Brien
Reception
With over thirty years of experience in front-of-office positions, Aroha O’Brien is a friendly and professional first point of contact at the firm.
With a strong corporate background, Aroha is able to provide you with highly effective information and support. Her understanding, empathetic manner, and genuine interest in assisting clients will help you feel comfortable and at ease in what can sometimes be an unfamiliar environment.
In her spare time, Aroha enjoys a very busy family life, being inspired to tackle new creative projects around the home and renovating old furniture…. but she is never too busy to listen to and spend time with friends.
Jay Verrico
Separation and Life Coach
Jay draws from a wealth of over 20 years’ experience enabling and developing others personally and professionally. With an intuitive and empathetic approach to coaching and mentoring, Jay’s exceptional communication skills create a strong personal drive to help others achieve their full potential.
Going through a separation can leave you feeling stuck in a negative place with little direction or even knowledge of who you are! Jay’s gentle structured approached will support you to move forward with your journey towards a new life.
Liz Turrini
Legal assistant
Liz has been in the legal profession for the past 15 years, with particular experience in community legal centres. She has worked in many areas of law at the Legal Services Commission of South Australia as a legal and administrative assistant. She is currently studying towards her Bachelor of Law degree at CDU with a passion for family law and mediation in children’s matters.
Her genuine interest and caring nature allows clients to feel at ease in an environment that can be unfamiliar and quite stressful.
In her spare time Liz enjoys the beach, spending time with family and friends, travelling and experiencing new things.
Edwina McCarthy
Solicitor
Edwina has a particular interest in Family Law work, having previously worked in the legal industry in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast in Construction and Infrastructure Litigation and Succession Law.
Able to assist across parenting disputes, mediation, consent orders, divorce, and prenuptial agreements, Edwina aims to assist clients in avoiding court proceedings wherever possible, allowing them to settle property and parenting matters and to save unnecessary cost, stress, and delay.
Edwina strives to always think outside the box to achieve the best possible outcomes for clients.
In her spare time, Edwina loves spending time with her friends and family.
Brittany Exelby
Law Graduate
Brittany is a recent law graduate, having finished her double degree of Law and Criminology / Criminal Justice in October 2022.
Currently completing her Practical Legal Training, Brittany is on track to be admitted as a solicitor in mid 2023. It was through her experience in the community legal sector that Brittany realised she wanted to work in family law, particularly to help victims of domestic violence.
She has a few years of experience as a legal administration assistant and has a passion for helping others.
In her spare time, Brittany enjoys socialising with friends, spending time outside and being active.
Tammy Smit
Client Service
Bio coming soon!
Donna Sutton
Client Services
Donna brings a great understanding and empathetic nature as to what clients need, having worked in the Legal industry for over 21 years.
In her spare time, Donna loves spending time with her family, going to the gym, spending time in her garden, and baking.
Victoria Lierse
Legal Assistant
Victoria Lierse completed her bachelor of laws at Bond University in 2022 and is set to be admitted by the end of the year. She has a friendly nature and commitment to ensuring clients are supported through their Family Law Matters.
In her spare time, Victoria enjoys spending time outdoors, reading and trying out new cafes with her friends.