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DA Family Lawyers

DA Family Lawyers

4.7(78 reviews)See reviews ↓·Brisbane

About the company

DA Family Lawyers is a Brisbane-based family law firm led by Managing Director Lisa Foley. The firm handles family law matters including separation, divorce, child protection, and domestic violence. It offers resolution methods including collaborative law, mediation, or litigation. The firm also undertakes work on behalf of a number of regional legal firms as their Brisbane town agents. Lisa Foley holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the Queensland University of Technology.

Kate Palmer is a Special Counsel and Accredited Family Law Specialist, conferred the title of Family Law Accredited Specialist by the Queensland Law Society in 2021. Neal Wood holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) and a Bachelor of Justice (Dist.) from the Queensland University of Technology. Erin Cunningham holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Business from Queensland University of Technology, along with a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, and is admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia. Sharni Embrey and Michaela Jewell each hold a Bachelor of Laws (Second Class Honours – Division A) from the Queensland University of Technology.

Skye Nicoll holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts, specialising in psychology and criminology. Madyson Hyslop is the Chief Operations Officer and Executive Assistant to the Managing Director. The firm has been recognised as a Leading Family & Divorce Lawyers Brisbane by the Doyles Guide for 2026. Lisa Foley was recognised in the Doyles Guide 2026 as a Preeminent Leading Parenting & Children’s Matters Lawyer, a Recommended Leading Family Lawyer for High-Value & Complex Property Matters, and a Leading Family Law & Divorce Lawyer.

What customers say

Based on genuine customer reviews

Feedback on DA Family Lawyers centres on the care shown to clients navigating separation and divorce. Lisa Foley is named repeatedly for her efficiency, professionalism and genuine concern for the people she represents, including through a drawn-out dispute involving an ex-partner, while Jessica Grumelart is praised for patience, friendliness and speed. Erin and Kate also receive thanks, alongside the wider group, for helping secure a favourable result. Solicitors are described as knowledgeable, well organised and honest in the guidance they give, with strategies developed around each client's particular circumstances and financial orders and parenting matters among the work discussed.

A recurring theme is the responsiveness of the team and the way clients were kept informed as their matters moved forward, with prompt handling of issues raised by the other side. Administrative staff come in for consistent mention as friendly, considerate and professional. Clients write about feeling respected and treated as individuals rather than file numbers, particularly during trying periods, and the compassion shown to the family unit during those months is a point reviewers return to.

Divorce lawyerSolicitor

Reviews

Reviews are taken from publicly available sources.

CW
Caitlin Wright29 October 2025

Huge thank you to Erin, Kate, and the team at DA Family Lawyers for providing professional services that secured me a very favourable outcome. Their communication was excellent and they dealt with the other side's issues swiftly. Would recommend them to anyone, thanks team.

NH
Nikea Hayes1 February 2024

This law firm acts unethically and illegally for financial profits. They pre-empt that the judge or registrar will order a family assessment and refuse to engage in mediation. They are refusing to provide where in the Family Law Act 1975 it states they can legally demand I reduce my medication and need to have a minimum 5 Psychologist appointments and provide them the assessment report for them to review, before they will begin the mediation process with my children. I have been told repeatedly there is 3 separate court processes and they keep stalling the child custody and financial separation unnecessarily to support my ex in continuing to exert coercive control abuse tactics over me. They have been provided all the correspondence between my ex and I showing we had on a number of occasions discussed amicable arrangements since the 3rd January 2023. He baited me into a mental health moment the week before our house was to be listed for sale, and he recorded me in his pocket and when I called the police for help, the male police officer happily threw me out as the perpetrator to make a example of me…. It’s blatant corruption, kidnapping and extortion for financial gain. They have been provided a letter from my long standing GP, Indigenous Counsellor (apparently she isn’t qualified enough by Kate’s assessment) and a workplace EAP psychologist letter confirming I have regular therapy as well as a child safety report the children are okay. I have repeatedly asked since I’ve had to start self acting due to no funds and these lawyers unethical demands, while they know I am experiencing financial hardship and homelessness since I was thrown out in July 2023 due to the breakdown of the marriage, with no way of meeting the financial costs to the demands. I have asked for Industry Service Level Agreements for attending to these matters and am being ignored. The property we shared sold on 22/11/2023 and there is $340k in a trust account that they flat out refused any access to the funds to even meet the demands. I had engaged Barton Lawyers at Petrie to act for me since August (they made me pay a 3mth retainer upfront - which I borrowed from a friend) as I was not eligible for Legal Aid due to the home being a asset. Both firms were unable to achieve anything during this time, except forecast in there monthly budget meetings how long they could stall these processes for financial gain. Barton’s Lawyers gave me a full refund as they know they hadn’t acted ethically in this matter. These Family and Financial experts are facilitating coercive control, extortion and stolen generation in 2024. They do not act in the interest of young children (2 & 5) and will support parental alienation for financial gain. They are refusing to provide my children’s independent lawyer information, and I am unable to find out any other way due to the no contact orders. 7 months no contact with my children I was primary carer of for wanting to leave a marriage? Kate Palmer actively lies in her correspondence and refuses to work with anyone in a timely manner... They are advising I must have legal advice but are refusing to work toward any goal in the best interest of the children - they participate in gaslighting people to try and have someone breach a DVO for there client to get full control of funds. They will use you for money. They have no internal processes to reconcile received information, and are highly unprofessional in the communication when they bother to act.

MJ
matt jewell25 July 2023

Couldn't recommend this place enough. Great service and assistance. Very happy

AA
Amy Adams24 November 2022

I am so grateful DA Family Lawyers have been with me the whole way through this very trying past year. The professional and actual care for the family unit is remarkable. I was never treated like another number. I have always felt cared for, respected and treated with importance when dealing with DA Family Lawyers. THANKYOU everyone. With much warm regards Amy 🌟💛🙏

CA
Charles Atkinson (Chuck)25 August 2022

DA Family Lawyers are fantastic. Their team really care about your individual situation and work hard to get you the right outcomes, and their admin staff have always been exceptionally friendly, considerate and professional.

YL
Yan Li21 July 2021

The Solicitor Jessica Grumelart is very patient, friendly, professional and efficient. I am very satisfied with the service she provided for me, and I am very happy to recommend her to everyone in need. Yan Li

ND
Nathan Dawson4 March 2021

Ultimately, a very professional legal firm that has the utmost best intentions for their clients and attain the most prosperous of results. DA Family Lawyers exhibited strong communication skills throughout, and were extremely responsive - a trait otherwise unseen regularly in the industry. I would like to thank the entire team for the legal proceedings and outcome that our parties had. I would highly recommend them to anyone with matters appertaining to family law - they certainly are providing what I believe is the benchmark in the industry.

Family lawyers in Brisbane compared

Ordered by rating, weighted by the number of reviews — businesses with only a handful of reviews do not jump to the top automatically. 11 businesses in this category in Brisbane are compared.

RankProviderRatingReviewsOpen Sat.
1Phillips Family Law★ 5,033No
2Kate Austin Family Lawyers★ 4,9187No
3Savannah Legal★ 5,08No
4Genuine Legal Family Lawyers★ 4,8458No
5Unified Lawyers★ 4,732Yes
7DA Family Lawyers (this page)★ 4,778No
Contact
+61732385900www.dafamilylawyers.com.au8/193 N Quay, Brisbane City QLD 4000
Working hours
Monday08:30–17:00
Tuesday08:30–17:00
Wednesday08:30–17:00
Thursday08:30–17:00
Friday08:30–17:00
SaturdayClosed
SundayClosed