SYDNEY: The Board of AF Legal Group announced its expansion to South Australia with the opening of a new office in Adelaide in August 2020.
South Australia has a population of over 1.75 million people and is the 5th largest state and territory by population in Australia.
Executive Chairman Grant Dearlove commented, “Our expansion to South Australia is our third new office expansion over the last 12 months. We expect to be in all states and territories by the end of the financial year. We will replicate our successful expansion to the Australian Capital Territory and the Sunshine Coast in FY20 to South Australia in FY21. We are pleased with the success of our organic expansion model to date and are excited about additional opportunities to grow our national footprint”.
The Adelaide office will be led by lateral hire and highly respected family law practitioner Shelley O’Connell. Mrs O’Connell is a Past President of the Women Lawyers’ Association (SA) and sat on that organisation’s managing committee from 2006 to 2018. She was a Member of the Council of the Law Society of South Australia (2008 to 2015) and was also elected to its Executive from 2011 to 2012. She served for several years on other Law Society Committees including the Country Practitioners Committee, the Family Law Committee and the Women Lawyers Committee.
More recently in 2020, she was recognised as a rising star in Family Law in Doyles Guide. “We welcome Shelley to the AFL team. As our Head of Legal in South Australia, Shelley is a great addition having carved out a strong client following and referral network through her success in providing holistic and outcome driven results for family law clients”, commented Mr Dearlove.
AFL continues to assess organic, lateral hire and acquisition growth opportunities and will update the market as and when these opportunities progress.