Our Team
Phillips Levy Bennett Legal is the culmination of a longstanding collaboration between its founding partners: Kerri Phillips, Matthew Levy and Cassandra Bennett.
With decades of experience, including jointly establishing the Appeals and Complex Litigation Unit (Family Law) at Legal Aid NSW, our lawyers have conducted strategic and successful litigation across hundreds of cases, in multiple courts and tribunals throughout Australia.
The breadth of our exposure is extremely rare in this sector. Not only have we represented parents, grandparents and foster carers, we have worked extensively with government and non-government agencies, and represented children to protect their best interests.
Our dedicated lawyers are adept at approaching sensitive legal issues with great care. We support you to understand the full complexities of your case, so you can make informed decisions about yourself, your family and your children — or your organisation — during difficult periods.
Kerri has over 25 years experience working with children and families in both public and private family law.
After working as an Associate to the Chief Judge of the Family Court of Western Australia, Kerri moved to the United Kingdom, where she worked as a social worker and lawyer in child protection. When she returned to Australia in 2011, Kerri was employed as a Senior Solicitor in the Child Protection Team at the Crown Solicitor’s Office. In 2015 Kerri led the establishment of the Appeals and Complex Litigation Unit in the Family Law Division at Legal Aid NSW and was the Solicitor in Charge of the Unit for 10 years, before becoming one of the founding partners of Phillips Levy Bennett Legal.
Kerri is currently the Deputy Chair of the Law Society’s Children’s Legal Issues Committee and a member of the Domestic and Family Violence Steering Committee. She is also a member of the Children’s Court Advisory Committee and the Children’s Court Care Working Group. Kerri has also served on the Supreme Court Adoption Working Group.
As an Accredited Specialist in Children’s Law and an Independent Children’s Lawyer, Kerri has represented the interests of children in number of significant cases, including in the High Court of Australia.
Kerri frequently represents parents and children in international parenting matters, including child abduction matters involving the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction. Kerri also assists parents both in Australia and abroad, seeking to recover their children in circumstances where the Child Abduction Convention does not apply.
She has extensive experience representing the Department, parents, carers and children in child protection proceedings. Kerri appears in adoption proceedings in the Supreme Court and has experience in all aspects on adoption proceedings, including discharge of adoption and international adoption. She regularly speaks at conferences and delivers training to lawyers and social workers.
Kerri brings a careful and compassionate approach to her work and is committed to finding outcomes that work for children and their families.
Kerri Phillips
Matthew is a founding partner of Phillips Levy Bennett Legal, with a wealth of experience in both administrative and family law.
He commenced his legal career at the NSW Crown Solicitor's Office, acting for government across diverse areas of the law, including class actions, medical negligence and public interest immunity claims. As a Senior Solicitor within the Crown Solicitor’s Child Protection Team, Matthew developed an interest and specialisation in children's legal matters. He acted on instructions from the Department in care and protection proceedings, as well as interventions in family law proceedings. This included judicial review proceedings, urgent parens patriae proceedings (including secure care), District Court care appeals, adoption matters and complex Children's Court proceedings.
Along with Kerri, Matthew established the Appeals and Complex Litigation Unit at Legal Aid NSW, where he undertook complex casework, including medical treatment matters in the FCFCOA, Supreme Court and NCAT as well as regularly acting for children in a broad range of public and private family law matters.
Matthew has significant appellate experience, having conducted matters in the NSW Court of Appeal, the Full Court of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the High Court.
At Legal Aid, Matthew was responsible for the provision of training, development of resources and assisting other practitioners with complex referrals. He has authored numerous bulletins on specific legal issues for the benefit of Legal Aid lawyers and the profession more broadly.
Matthew draws upon his diverse experience to provide clear and cogent advice, enabling clients to properly understand their options and be guided through difficult decisions.
Matthew Levy
Cassandra is one of the founding partners of Phillips Levy Bennett Legal and has extensive experience in public and private family law. Prior to establishing Phillips Levy Bennett Legal, Cassandra was a Senior Solicitor in the Child Protection Team at the Crown Solicitor’s Office and a Senior Solicitor in the Appeals and Complex Litigation Unit at Legal Aid NSW.
She acts in a broad range of matters – including complex care and protection matters, adoption, administrative review, parenting disputes involving high levels of conflict and/or allegations of family violence and matters involving an international element including relocation and child abduction.
Cassandra has gained significant appellate experience, including in the NSW Court of Appeal, the Full Court of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the High Court of Australia.
She is an Accredited Specialist in Children’s Law and a qualified Independent Children’s Lawyer and has presented extensive training and seminars.
Cassandra has lived, worked and studied across the globe. In 2020, she obtained a Masters in Child Studies with Distinction from King’s College London and has a particular interest in an inter-disciplinary approach to child protection.
She is a skilled negotiator with a focus on resolving matters at their earliest opportunity. When navigating complex or high-pressure litigation, Cassandra takes a calm and measured approach to ensure clients receive the best possible outcome even in the most challenging circumstances.
Cassandra Bennett
