Autonomy First Lawyers
Empowering vulnerable decision makers
Autonomy First Lawyers is a multi-disciplinary, cognitive responsive professional practice, bringing together a unique team of experienced trusts and estates law, business law and clinical neuropsychology experts.
We provide the legal and clinical advice that helps individuals and families make important financial, legal, health and welfare decisions. We help legal, medical, financial and other professionals reduce risk to themselves and to vulnerable clients when decision making ability is in doubt. We are collaborators in service of our clients’ interests, working at the convergence of:
- Family, wealth and finance
- Neuropsychology and law
How we help
We support family operations, care delivery, and both personal and family transitions, by helping with your:
- Wealth Conservation (in the broadest sense of that term).
- Estate Governance and Administration, and
- Succession
Areas of expertise
We have deep expertise in the following fields of law:
Property l Commercial Law l Dispute Resolution l Litigation l Trusts and Estates Practice l Migration Law.
Our Capacity & Capability Clinic is a multidisciplinary professional practice providing a medico-legal capacity and capability assessment service.
Meet the team
Michael Perkins is a leading trusts, estates and private client practice lawyer, author and educator. Dr Jane Lonie is a consultant clinical neuropsychologist, expert witness, author and educator. Zabina Naem is an Associate Lawyer, experienced in Trusts, Estates and Property Law.
Clarence Leung is a senior lawyer experienced in trusts, commercial law, property law, litigation and migration law.
Capacity & Capability Clinic
The Capacity & Capability Clinic is a multidisciplinary professional practice providing a medico-legal capacity and capability assessment service. Bringing together legal and clinical expertise, the Capacity and Capability Clinic helps and supports the autonomy of individuals and their families when they need to make important and often complex decisions…
Who we help
We help:
- Individuals
- Their family, supporters and representatives
- Community representatives and services.
Our clients have connections within many jurisdictions, including: United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, Hong Kong, Singapore.
Expert articles
Our team are all highly experienced in their fields and publish widely. In our Blog, you can find case studies, opinion pieces and other articles around the theme we are all so passionate about. We work closely with like-minded organisations in our Community of Practice and welcome guest bloggers to submit their articles here. You can also receive our content by following our social media channels or subscribing to our newsletter.
Downloadable resources
We are pleased to offer you a set of free downloadable resources to make it easier access the support we can provide.
You can choose to use some resources to give to clients when they brief you about their situation. Other resources can be used to develop your skills and guide the conversations you have with your clients, referrers and collaborators.
Events
The Autonomy First team are active members of our professional community and are often asked to present at various events. You can see the calendar of forthcoming conferences and seminars summarised at the bottom of this page and read full details on our Events page.
Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn for the latest news about upcoming events.
How we work
We implement the National Decision Making Principles in our work.
We help mitigate the risk of abusive or coercive conduct in the administration of a person’s affairs wherever appropriate.
We practice the ethics of care and help clients implement the ethics of ageing.
We help support and safeguard the will and preference of our clients.
We work collaboratively, using common processes and practices to reach a common goal for our clients.
We advise individuals, families, organisations, entrepreneurs, start-ups and established businesses in many industries and sectors.
Autonomy First Pty Ltd, our law firm’s parent company, is an employer Partner of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners). STEP has over 100 branches worldwide. STEP’s primary focus is on professional development and standards for practitioners advising on care and support for vulnerable clients, family businesses, family offices, wills, estates, wealth administration and conservation and succession planning. We work closely with STEP’s Employer Partner members who are part of the Autonomy First multidisciplinary Community of Practice.
Upcoming Events
6
September
Behavioural Challenges – Support for People living with Dementia and Carers
In this online presentation, Fit Minds Australia will discuss the common behaviour changes and challenges, along with recommendations on how to support the person.
20
September
Building Defensible Decisions About Staying at Home
This breakfast event is for professional advisers, commercial service providers and those working in the care sector with older clients who are deciding whether to stay at home or go into care.
16-22
October
National Carers Week 16-22 October 2022
National Carers Week is a time to recognise and celebrate the 2.65 million Australians who provide care and support to a family member or friend.
Thought Leadership
Insight and Appraisal in Cognitive Decline: What Guardianship Tribunal Members and Applicants should know
In this article, Dr Jane Lonie looks into the concept of insight, what this means in a medical context and what can give rise to its loss. She also explores the impact of loss of insight how this can impact guardianship tribunal matters, discussing a recent case study…
Lessons from the National Dementia Conference – Melbourne – 23-24 June 2022
Michael Perkins and Dr Jane Lonie presented at the recent National Dementia Conference on the topic of lessons learned in establishing the Capacity and Capability Clinic.
In this article, Michael reflects on some of the key insights he took away from this important event…
Working Collaboratively: Findings from the Collaborate and Grow 2022 survey
Earlier this year we were proud to sponsor an event entitled ‘Collaborate and Grow 2022’. Before the event, a full house of attendees was invited to complete a survey about collaboration, the current status in their organisation and looking ahead to the future.
Here’s what we learned.
Empowering vulnerable decision makers | Helping safeguard your will and preferences
Who we work with
“Michael is an experts expert – extremely knowledgable in estate planning and all of the legal issues that surround such a complex area – Michael is also able to explain that area of the law in a practical and commercial manner to clients and advisers alike. Michael has helped me with numerous clients to design strategic and practical solutions that add real practical value.”
“Michael is an experts expert – extremely knowledgable in estate planning and all of the legal issues that surround such a complex area – Michael is also able to explain that area of the law in a practical and commercial manner to clients and advisers alike. Michael has helped me with numerous clients to design strategic and practical solutions that add real practical value.”