Rachell is a leading Australian family and relationship lawyer and co-head of the Melbourne Family & Relationship law team.
Rachell was admitted to practice in 2000, joined Lander & Rogers shortly thereafter and is experienced in all aspects of family law, with particular expertise in complex property and financial matters. Rachell obtained her Accredited Specialisation in Family Law in 2005. Rachell is an accredited arbitrator and regularly appears at mediations on behalf of her clients. She is a strong proponent of using dispute resolution methods to reach negotiated outcomes for her clients, avoiding the cost and time implications of going to court and giving her clients control and certainty over their outcome.
Rachell is passionate about ensuring her clients have the tools and resources to plan for their futures and regularly works with her network of financial and health professionals to assist her clients.
Rachell holds a Masters Degree in Public and International Law and has a keen interest in international matters including overseas child abduction, cross border financial disputes and overseas maintenance and child support matters. Rachell regularly provides advice to ex patriate Australians and can assist in matters involving multiple jurisdictions.
Rachell regularly presents on family law topics. She gave evidence to the House of Representatives Select Standing Committee Enquiry into a Better Family Law System in 2017 reflecting her expertise and deep knowledge of the family law system. She is also a contributing editor to The Laws of Australia.Rachell was the recipient of the Mentor of the Year Award at the 2022 Australian Law Awards in recognition of her commitment to, and promotion of, on-going legal education.
Rachell has been recognised in Best Lawyers Australia annually since 2021. In the peer reviewed publication, Doyle's Guide, Rachell is named a Leading Family & Divorce Lawyer for 2023 and 2024, a leading Parenting and Children's Matters Lawyer from 2018 to 2023 and was named a Family Law Rising Star in 2016.
Experience
Rachell's expertise includes:
- property and financial matters including property settlement and spousal maintenance
- parenting matters including negotiating appropriate parenting arrangements following separation and specific parenting issues
- Financial Agreements
- de facto property matters
- same sex property and parenting matters
- child support
- special medical procedures for children
- enforcement, contravention and registration of child support agreements
- family violence and intervention order matters
- mediation.
Career highlights
Rachell's career highlights include:
- acting on behalf of an overseas mother in recovering arrears of child support from the Australian Father in the amount of $500,000 being the largest award of child support arrears to date
- acting on behalf of a de facto wife in property settlement matters and obtaining judgment and subsequent indemnity costs order in her favour to meet the costs of trial
- successfully obtaining orders for sole parental responsibility of a young child enabling her client to make all future significant decisions in relation to that child.
Client feedback
"Rachell Davey from the family law division is exceptional at her profession. I could not recommend her highly enough and suggest new clients need only to use Rachell. She has a full understanding of family law beyond anything I could comprehend and the complexities that it comes with. Rachell is extremely professional and as awful as the separation process is, helps you get through it. Thank you for everything Rachell."
FAQs
What is involved in a first client conference and what do I need to bring with me?
Our initial conference will last approximately one hour. We will discuss the background of your relationship and provide you with advice on how the law applies to your circumstances. If your matter involves financial issues, we will provide you with an estimated range of your potential entitlements, based on the instructions you provide in the meeting. If you have children with your former partner, we will discuss how the court determines parenting arrangements and what an appropriate parenting regime may look like for your family.
What options are available to resolve my matter without going to Court?
Most of our clients will have their matters resolved outside of court. The most common way of reaching a negotiated outcome with your former partner is by way of mediation. There are a number of advantages of mediation, which avoids the costs and stress of court proceedings and allows the parties to have some control over the outcome. A third-party mediator facilitates discussions between the parties and their legal representatives over the course of the day and if an agreement is reached, it can be formalised by consent orders which becoming binding following approval from the court.
How will you work with other advisers such as accountants and financial planners throughout this process?
A lot of the information held by your accountant will be relevant to your family law matter, so with your written approval, we can connect with your financial team to obtain information relevant to your personal or corporate finances. We also have a close network of financial services professionals to whom we regularly refer our clients, particularly if they require advice following a financial settlement. Our extensive network enables us to connect our clients with a financial planner who is appropriately suited to their circumstances.