Why did you become a lawyer?

I became a Fam­i­ly Lawyer (specif­i­cal­ly, as I knew very ear­ly on that this was the area I want­ed to spe­cialise in) because I feel real­ly strong­ly that it’s a priv­i­lege to help peo­ple nav­i­gate the most inti­mate, painful and stress­ful dis­pute’ of their lives. I believe that it’s so impor­tant that the right’ peo­ple work in this area of the law as a Fam­i­ly Lawyer can assist fam­i­lies in work­ing coop­er­a­tive­ly to reach a res­o­lu­tion that allows every­one to move for­ward with hope and con­fi­dence, rather than mak­ing the process more dev­as­tat­ing both for the par­ties and also for their chil­dren. What I real­ly love about Fam­i­ly Law is that it relates to real life” and there­fore encom­pass­es so many oth­er dis­ci­plines such as account­ing and psychology.

Why Swaab?

Swaab’s Fam­i­ly Law Team have a real com­mit­ment to being solu­tion’ focussed. The cul­ture at Swaab real­ly focuss­es on sup­port­ing clients and pay­ing atten­tion to the out­come that serves their needs rather than pro­tract­ing con­flict or lit­i­gat­ing for lit­i­ga­tion’s sake’.

What’s your best mem­o­ry or client success?

There is noth­ing more reward­ing that watch­ing the trans­for­ma­tion that so many Fam­i­ly Law clients go through. I can think of a num­ber of clients that start­ed the process so dev­as­tat­ed and hope­less, and with time found such strength, resilience and real­ly pos­i­tive out­look on the new chap­ter of their lives.

Who has been your great­est influence?

My par­ents are very sup­port­ive, lov­ing and hard­work­ing peo­ple. From a very young age they taught me the val­ue of edu­ca­tion but also of being open mind­ed and hav­ing hob­bies. I think a life­long com­mit­ment to curios­i­ty and learn­ing (in all areas of life) is incred­i­bly enriching.

What do you like to do out­side of work?

I love to cook and am always feed­ing my loved ones. I find the whole process of cook­ing a fun, yet ther­a­peu­tic chal­lenge – espe­cial­ly if a lit­tle George Michael is play­ing in the back­ground. I also love to relax by read­ing at the beach or at my local café.

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

Publications

Baby Priya’s Bill: Land­mark Fair Work Amend­ment Pro­tect­ing Paid Parental Leave After Child Loss

Baby Priya’s Bill amends the Fair Work Act to pro­tect employ­er-fund­ed paid parental leave for par­ents after child loss, still­birth…

Stra­ta Law Changes — Effec­tive 27 Octo­ber 2025

What do the lat­est NSW stra­ta law changes mean for own­ers and com­mit­tees? On 27 Octo­ber 2025, the next stage…

How does statu­to­ry inter­pre­ta­tion impact build­ing dis­putes in NSW?

How does statu­to­ry inter­pre­ta­tion impact build­ing dis­putes in NSW? Writ­ten laws like the Home Build­ing Act, build­ing codes, and indus­try…

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Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Why are unfair dis­missal claims on the rise?”, pub­lished in Lawyers Week­ly on…

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Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Can you dis­miss an employ­ee for look­ing for anoth­er job?”, pub­lished in HRM…

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