Shirley was called to the bar in England as a barrister where she developed a love for courtroom advocacy.

She built her career in the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK where every case was different, and she was exposed to the full gamut of human nature. She came to specialise in rape and domestic violence cases – harrowing work that built her emotional resilience and empathy and grew her problem-solving skills.

It also exposed her to the emotionally damaging aspects of adversarial law and underpins her entire ethos on conflict resolution and collaboration.

On emigrating to Australia Shirley chose to go into private practice, specialising in Family law.

Her approach is people-centric, looking to arrive at amicable outcomes that work well for her clients. However, if the other party is being truculent, Shirley draws upon her prosecuting background and fights for the client’s best interests, advocating strongly with the full force of the law.

In the rare moments she has to herself, Shirley likes to nestle into her armchair and enjoy historical novels and true crime stories.