Catherine founded Leach Legal in March 2004. Her practice focuses on complex family law, estates, complex financial, children’s cases and trials in the Family Court and business settlement matters.
Before Leach Legal, in 1998 Catherine became a partner of DCH Legal Group, resigning in 2001 to form the partnership of Maughan & Leach. Catherine’s extensive experience allows her to provide big-picture advice to clients in all areas related to family law, helping clients control costs, avoid expensive disputes whenever possible and efficiently resolve issues when they arise.
Catherine is a member of the exclusive international Entrepreneur Organisation and sits on the board of the Perth Branch. Catherine regularly presents to groups and organisations concerning women’s rights and family law practices.
Catherine has been able to establish a firm culture in which the lawyers and administrative team are dedicated and passionate about their work, always going the “extra mile” to help clients. Under her leadership the core focus continues to be on helping people to unravel and rebuild their lives following significant events with compassion, empathy and strength.
Who Catherine works with
Catherine manages Leach Legal’s valued clients as well as business relations of the firm liaising with national boards, and other business directors. Catherine’s focus is to help people who are experiencing significant change in their lives – resulting from:
- separating from a partner, either married or living defacto
- the birth of a child resulting from a relationship that is no longer intact
- change in living or work arrangements, requiring changes to time with children and financial arrangements
- passing away of relatives or loved ones
- buying or selling a business or a house
Approach
Catherine’s dynamic and expert approach ensures that clients have access to the best advice and are well looked after. Catherine understands that during these difficult times you need a trusted lawyer who can give you clear and correct advice and recommend the best path for you to follow. She sees each client as an individual and not a “case” and she provides personalised and professional service to guide you through any problems and get you to the other side.
Catherine is passionate about assisting clients to explore options that enable them to avoid Court proceedings and obtain an optimum outcome. She is a trained mediator and a collaborative lawyer and supports and advocates those methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution, as well as encouraging and facilitating ongoing negotiation.
Catherine’s vision is to create a law firm where all team members strive for intellectual courage and integrity and to ask at all times: “Is this action the best thing for my client, will this advance my client’s case and is the cost of the action justified in achieving the agreed outcome?”
Qualifications
Catherine completed her Master of Applied Law (Family Law) in 2012 and in 2013 she lectured for the Masters Course in Perth in Family Law.
Memberships
Law Society of Western Australia
Family Law Council of Australia
Family Law Practitioners Association
Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (Board member)
Women Lawyers of Western Australia