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
• Deborah Rea
• Kylie Sanders

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 has recently retired from 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 is a trained family law Arbitrator and a trained collaborative lawyer.

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 28 years experience in the practice of family law, initially in Western Australia and in Victoria since 1984.

Debra is a sessional member of the Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal and co-editor with Michael Taussig of "Current Family Law" until 2006.

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 , Courts Practice & Collaborative Practice committees. Debra is also a trained collaborative lawyer.

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 practising in family law for over 25 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 and maintenance 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 was for many years a member of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria and holder of the Family Violence Portfolio for the Institute. Lee is a current member of the Family Law Advisory Committee to the Accreditation Board of the Law Institute of Victoria for Family Law. She is also a member of the Collaborative Law Practice Group of the Law Institute of Victoria.

Sally Baker
Senior Associate

Sally Baker is a Senior Associate of TCA and became an Accredited Family Law Specialist in 2003. She was admitted into practice in 1997 and has been specialising in family law throughout her career.

Sally serves on the LIV's Courts Practice Committee and a former member of the LIV Executive Committee. Sally is a member of the Family Law Sections of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.

Sally has presented papers and lectured at Leo Cussen and she is a member of the Family Law Sections of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.

Rebecca Goldman
Associate

Rebecca Goldman is an Associate of TCA having been admitted to practice in 1998 and has practiced family law exclusively since admission. Rebecca joined TCA in March 2001 and is a member of the Family Law Sections 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 practising 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 Honourable Justice John Winneke, for her research paper which was a critique of the administration of the Victorian Court of Appeal.

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 practising family law exclusively.

Deborah Rea
Associate

Deborah Rea is an Associate of TCA and was admitted to practice in 2008.

Deborah was previously employed as a judge's associate in the Federal Magistrates Court from 2006 to 2008 working chiefly in the area of family law. She also assisted at the Springvale Monash Legal Service by providing free legal advice on criminal, family and civil matters.

She is a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council and Law Institute of Victoria.

Kylie Sanders
Solicitor

Kylie Sanders is an Associate of TCA and was admitted to practice in November 2009. Kylie was previously employed as a Legal Associate to the Honourable Justice Young and the Honourable Justice Cronin in the Family Court of Australia.

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