Our Team

Below are profiles of our expert team at Taussig Cherrie & Associates

• Michael Taussig Q.C.
• Debra Cherrie
• Lee Formica
• Sally Baker
• Christine Zarb
• Rebecca Goldman
• Larissa Goldberg
• Georgina Presnell
• Amanda Jordan

Michael Taussig, Q.C.
Partner

Michael Taussig, QC along with Debra Cherrie is a founding Partner of TCA and an Accredited Family Law Specialist. He has extensive experience in the family law field and has been a practising family lawyer for over 40 years.

Michael’s current family law commitments include being a board member of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators. He was co-editor of the "Current Family Law" bi-monthly journal with Debra Cherrie until 2006. He serves on the committee for the Collaborative Law Practice Group run by the LIV.

Michael is a former Chair of the Family Law Sections of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1996.

Debra Cherrie
Partner

Debra Cherrie, with Michael Taussig, QC is a founding Partner of TCA. She is an Accredited Family Law Specialist with over 27 years experience in the practice of family law initially in Western Australia and since 1984 in Victoria.

Debra is a panel member of the Legal Professional Tribunal and co-editor with Michael Taussig of  "Current Family Law" until 2006.

Debra is also on the committee for the Collaborative Law Practice Group run by the LIV.

Debra served 10 years on the Family Law Advisory Committee to the Accreditation Board of the Law Institute of Victoria for family law. She has previously served on several Law Institute committees including its Executive and its Courts Practice committee.

Debra has written several articles and papers covering diversified areas of family law including international child abduction, child support, setting aside transactions to defeat claims, injunctions, third-party interests, financial agreements, bankruptcy and taxation issues.

Lee Formica
Consultant

Lee Formica is an accredited family law specialist and has been practicing in family law for over 21 years. Prior to joining TCA as a Consultant, Lee had previously been a Partner in two well known law firms.

Lee has experience in a wide variety of areas including complex property cases. She has also worked as an Independent Children’s Lawyer promoting the interest of children in highly charged parent disputes and has sound understanding of issues relating to children in family law disputes.

She has written and delivered papers on many areas of family law and is a regular lecturer and presenter at the Leo Cussen Institute of Victoria. Lee is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria, holder of Family Violence Portfolio for the Institute and is a member of the Crimes Family violence Protocols Committee chaired by the Honorable Justice Brown. Lee is a member of the Family Law Advisory Committee to the Accreditation Board of the Law Institute of Victoria for Family Law.

Sally Baker
Associate

Sally Baker is an Associate of TCA and an Accredited Family Law Specialist. She was admitted into practice in 1997 and has been specialising in family law throughout her career.

Sally serves on the Courts Practice Committee and is a member of the Young Family Lawyers Association. She is a member of the Family Law Sections of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.

Sally's previous involvements include being a member of the Law Institute of Victoria's Property and Maintenance Committee and the De-facto Property sub-committee.

Christine Zarb
Associate

Christine Zarb is an associate of TCA and was admitted into practice in 1997. Christine is a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.

Prior to moving to Victoria, Christine was an Accredited Duty Lawyer - Queensland Magistrates and Children's Courts and a member of the Queensland Law Society. Since joining TCA in 2001 Christine has been practicing family law exclusively.

Rebecca Goldman
Associate

Rebecca Goldman is an Associate of TCA having been admitted into practice in 1998.

Rebecca joined TCA in March 2001 and has practiced family law exclusively since admission. She previously assisted at the St Kilda Legal Service by providing family law advice to those in need. She is a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.

Larissa Goldberg
Associate

Larissa Goldberg is an Associate of TCA and was admitted into practice in 1992. During her career she has worked in the areas of family law, commercial law and general practice. Since joining TCA in 2004, Larissa has been practicing family law exclusively. Larissa is a member of the Family Law Sections of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.

In 1997 Larissa completed a Master of Laws degree and received a high distinction from the former President of the Court of Appeal, the Honorable Justice John Winneke, for her research paper which was a critique of the administration of the Victorian Court of Appeal.

Georgina Presnell
Associate

Georgina is an Associate of TCA and was admitted to practise in 2002. She is a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria. She has previously served as a member of the Law Institute of Victoria's Property and Maintenance Committee.

From 2004 to 2006, after being admitted to practise in England and Wales, Georgina worked as a solicitor at a leading family law firm in London. This international experience gave Georgina the opportunity of working on a variety of family law cases, including international relocation cases, cross-jurisdictional disputes and complex financial cases for high net-worth individuals.

Amanda Jordan
Associate

Amanda Jordan is an Associate of TCA and was admitted to practice in Queensland in January 2006. Amanda was previously employed with a well known firm in Brisbane where she worked exclusively in the area of family law from 2004 until 2006, when she relocated to Melbourne.

Amanda is a member of the Family Law Sections of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.