Grace Hurley

Grace is a Senior Associate in Lander & Rogers' Family and Relationship Law team, having practised exclusively in family law since her admission in 2020.

Grace is well regarded for her dedication to clients, high level of care, technical expertise and attention to detail. In 2024, Grace was named a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards for Family Law.

Grace is committed to providing direct, empathetic and commercially focused family law advice. She is a trusted advisor whose clients feel supported, well-informed and confident in her guidance. Calm and assured, Grace is committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for her clients.

Grace is passionate about helping clients navigate their family law journey as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. Grace is known for achieving successful outcomes for clients both outside of court and through litigation. Grace prioritises out-of-court resolution and has extensive experience negotiating outcomes through mediation. When litigation is necessary, Grace is a skilled and strategic advocate who ensures her clients feel informed and supported throughout each stage of the court process.

Experience

Grace has expertise in all aspects of family and relationship law, including:

• Financial agreements: Grace has extensive experience drafting complex and tailored financial agreements at every stage of a relationship. Grace regularly represents family offices and high net-worth families to prepare financial agreements to protect family group structures and intergenerational wealth transfers.
• Property and financial matters: Grace represents clients with asset pools ranging from modest to high-net-worth. Grace is a strategic and tenacious negotiator and has extensive experience in litigated property and financial cases.
• Child support: Grace drafts child support agreements, and represents clients seeking to vary or object to child support assessments.
• Parenting matters: Grace prides herself on adopting a child-focused, empathetic and pragmatic approach to parenting cases. Grace has particular expertise in complex parenting matters involving family violence, sexual abuse, interstate and international relocation, international child abduction and medical procedures (including gender dysphoria).

Career highlights

Grace's career highlights include:

• obtaining a tremendous outcome for her client in a financial matter, with the client receiving 47.5% of the asset pool valued at approximately $40million, where the other party sought that her client only receive 15%.
• obtaining a successful final judgement in a longstanding parenting matter where she was successful in obtaining final orders for the children to have no contact with the other parent, who had perpetrated ongoing and very serious family violence upon her client and the children. She was also successful in obtaining orders for her client and the children to relocate interstate.
• obtaining a successful final judgment in a property matter where Grace was successful in running a "Stanford" argument, that the other party's application be dismissed and she receive no property adjustment (or payment) from Grace's client.
• running an undefended final hearing in a pro bono parenting matter where she was successful in obtaining all final orders sought by her client, including that the other party pay their legal costs. In the reported decision, the Judge of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia described Grace's work on the file as having been "diligently prepared" and praised the fact that "the quality of that preparation appears identical to the preparation on a paid file."

Client feedback

"It was an utter blessing to have Grace as my lawyer who looked after my custody case from start to finish. She provided me with the knowledge, stability and assuredness I needed to go through this extraordinarily stressful process as level-headed as possible. I never felt hesitation to pick up the phone and ask for help or clarification throughout the entire process whenever I needed to ease my nerves. It was evident that Grace genuinely cared about my situation and it wasn't just another case for her and that came through in her work and my experience working with her. Surprisingly, I look back on this whole process fondly because of the incredible team I had and how confident I felt. I thank her for helping me achieve an outcome that my kids and I will forever be grateful for. I wish her all the best in her future."

"There aren't really enough words to thank Grace for the compassion and hard work to support and lead me through my lengthy case. My circumstances meant years of logistics, mediation, court and emotional turmoil. Grace was there every step. She worked through all the layers and nuances of my case, getting to know what my children and I really needed for a successful future. Grace focussed on what was best practice and maintained her own professional ethical and moral grounds throughout proceedings. Because of this, Grace was able to give me a voice in a process where I was otherwise unheard and powerless. Grace has shaped and changed the future for my children and I, which is utterly incredible."

"Grace was exemplary in her guidance and scaffolding of my situation. We worked through every layer of the process from explaining what each step meant, the different angles of strategy, to logistics of collaborating financial receipts, statements, accounts to the nuances of my specific case. I have a child with a significant medical history and ongoing specialised medical needs. Some medical issues unexpectedly worsened during proceedings. Grace adapted and supported me through this. Grace grasped the intensity of the medical diagnosis and procedures related to my daughter's situation with ease. Grace applied these sensitive nuances to our approach and planned accordingly. This meant that the outcome was flexible to my unique situation and the needs of my daughter could be met in our final agreement. Without Grace backing my situation and believing in my little family, we would not have benefited from the incredible opportunity to have my case pro bono. A life saving offering. Grace is fervent in her approach, seamless, compassionate, articulate, engaged, dependable and became the rock of the team. She held all the moving parts and kept the momentum moving."

"Grace recently represented me in my divorce which was quite complex. From the first meeting, Grace took the time to address my concerns and answer my questions providing a thorough explanation of all legal proceedings. Grace impressed me with her professionalism, expertise, and compassionate approach. Her level of communication made me feel valued as a client and gave me peace of mind during a challenging time. I highly recommend Grace to anyone needing a caring, dedicated and knowledgeable lawyer."

"I cannot recommend Grace highly enough. From the very beginning, she was not only professional and knowledgeable but also incredibly compassionate and supportive throughout what was a very emotional and challenging time in my life. Grace took the time to truly understand my situation, explained every step of the legal process clearly, and always made sure I felt heard and informed. She was always there! Her attention to detail, calm demeanour, and fierce advocacy gave me confidence and peace of mind when I needed it most. Thank you, Grace, I’ll always be grateful for your guidance and for having you as my lawyer."

FAQs

What can I expect from my family lawyer?

We support our clients through every step of a separation and dispute resolution. We have a trusted network of psychologists, counsellors, tax professionals, financial advisers and valuers, so our clients always have the best team to support them through the process.

I don't want to go to Court…what options are available to resolve my matter without going to Court?

The majority of Grace's matters resolve at a private mediation without the need for litigation. Grace 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.

What is a benefit of using Lander & Rogers for my family law case?

As the largest family law team in Australia, and with the support of our wider commercial firm, Lander & Rogers can provide specialised family law advice, whilst also drawing on the expertise of colleagues in different states and areas of law.