The Downs and South West Queensland Law Association (DSWQLA) will recognise its legal achievers on Saturday with its inaugural Annual Law Awards.
The region’s Lawyer of the Year and Emerging Lawyer of the Year will be announced at the association’s sold-out Annual Law Ball at The Annex in Toowoomba.
Here are the six finalists for the awards:
Emerging Lawyer of the Year
Sarah de Wit
Sarah completed her law degree at the University of Southern Queensland in 2020, and was admitted in November 2021.
Sarah works at Toowoomba firm Murdoch Lawyers where she specialises in energy and resources law. Her primary focus is on securing compensation for clients in negotiations with resource and energy companies and government bodies.
She is a member of the Queensland Branch’s committee of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association, a member of the UniSQ alumni network, and DSWQLA Treasurer.
Sarah aims for diversity in the profession and strives to always ask the question, “Who is not in the room who ought to be?”.
Jess Fry
Jess completed her law degree at Central Queensland University in 2022, and was admitted in March 2023.
Jess began working the field in 2012, progressing through administrative, paralegal and law clerk roles. She now works at Toowoomba firm Wilsons The Family Lawyers, where she handles property and parenting matters, drafting documents such as financial agreements and child support agreements.
Outside of work, Jess is a director of South West Queensland Thunder Football Club and plays for the club in the Football Queensland Premier League.
Stafford Mortensen
Stafford completed his law degree at the University of Southern Queensland in 2020, and was admitted in November 2021.
Stafford works at Toowoomba firm Wonderley & Hall and his primary focus is family law where he acts for clients in property and parenting disputes. He also appears regularly in the Magistrates Court in domestic violence, criminal, and traffic matters.
Stafford is a member of the Queensland Law Society’s Future Leaders Committee, a member of the UniSQ alumni network, and DSWQLA Treasurer.
Outside of work, he plays for the Highfields Eagles in the Toowoomba Rugby League.
Lawyer of the Year
Lynn Armstrong
Lynn completed her law degree at the Queensland University of Technology in 2004.
She is a Partner at Toowoomba firm Best Wilson Buckley Family Law, where she works predominantly in family law, including in parenting, property, and domestic and family violence matters.
Lynn is a Queensland Law Society Accredited Family Law Specialist, Nationally Accredited Mediator, and Independent Children’s Lawyer. Lynn also has a Bachelor of Nursing; she was a nurse before entering law.
She was the Doyle’s Guide Recommended Family Lawyer (Toowoomba, Darling Downs and Western Queensland) in 2018 and 2023; and a finalist in two categories of the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards in 2020.
Kym Briese
Kym completed her law degree at the Queensland University of Technology in 1995.
She is Principal at her Toowoomba firm Briese Lawyers, where she works in areas such as family law, personal and business estate planning and estate administration.
She has a Certificate of Mediation and Collaborative Law Training, a Diploma in Child Psychology, a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Studies (Family and Relationship Counselling), and is a Licensed Relationship Coach with the Relationship Coaching Institute
Outside of work, Kym enjoys farm life, especially horses, permaculture and self-sufficient living.
Alysha Jacobsen
Alysha completed her law degree at the University of Southern Queensland in 2011.
She is a Senior Associate at Toowoomba firm Bouchier Khan Lawyers, where she works predominantly in criminal law, as well as in domestic violence, child protection and civil litigation. She appears almost daily in the Magistrates Court on a range of criminal and traffic matters. She also appears in Courts across the Darling Downs and regularly appears in the District and Supreme Courts.
In 2020, 2021 and 2022, Alysha was named in the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland Inspo List. She is also DSWQLA Vice President.
Keep an eye on Proctor as we announce the winners and cover all the glamour of the Downs and South West Queensland Law Association’s Annual Law Ball.
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