2026 Family Law Advocacy Workshop
FLAW 2026 - Cross-Examining the Single Expert Witness in Parenting Disputes
● Pre-course Seminar: Thursday 9 July 2026 ● Intensive: Fri 17 – Sat 18 July 2026
The Piddington Society and the Family Law Practitioners’ Association of WA are proud to present specialist advocacy training workshop for family lawyers, delivered over 2 intensive days and 1 evening seminar.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM -
Now in its fifth year, the Family Law Advocacy Workshop has evolved into an advocacy programme for family lawyers at every stage of their career. The Workshop is designed to develop the practical skills required for modern family law litigation, whether you are appearing in court for the first time, refining an established advocacy practice, or regularly instructing counsel.
For the practical advocacy sessions, participants are allocated to one of three experience-based streams and undertake advocacy exercises in separate actual courtrooms in groups of up to ten participants. Each group is led by two senior coaches, providing a high level of individual coaching and feedback which participants can apply when they repeat the exercise the following day.
The 2026 Workshop focuses on the preparation and conduct of cross-examination of the single expert witness in parenting proceedings. Participants will analyse expert reports, observe experienced advocates in action, and complete two practical advocacy exercises in actual courtrooms, receiving immediate feedback from Senior Counsel, judicial officers and experienced family law practitioners. Confirmed coaches include The Hon. Justice Robin Cohen, Acting Magistrate Max Beckerling, Annette Andrews, Teresa Farmer SC, Clinton Russell SC, Michael Rynne SC, Alex Mossop SC, Heather Milar SC, Henry Moser, Adam Ebell, Stephen Cohen (Clinical Psychologist), and Dr Helen Buckland Wright (Clinical & Forensic Psychologist) Attendees may claim up to eight CPD points.
What's included in your registration -
- Thursday 9 July 5.30pm - 6.30pm:
Pre-Course Twilight Workshop - A dedicated pre-workshop evening Q&A session, giving participants the opportunity to review the course materials, discuss preparation, and ask questions well before the intensive weekend.
Hosted at O'Sullivan Davies Lawyers (21/197 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000)
- Friday 17 July 9.00am - 5.00pm:
Intensive Day 1 - A full day of lectures, demonstrations, expert report analysis and the first practical advocacy exercise
Hosted at the District Court
- 18 July 9.30 - 1.30pm :
Intensive Day 2 - A half-day practical workshop, giving participants the opportunity to undertake the advocacy exercise for a second time, applying the lessons and feedback received during the first session.
Hosted at the Family Court
Note: Practitioner ID numbers are issued by the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia. Information from the Board is available here. We require these to issue CPD certificates. If you do not want CPD points, please put '0000' in the box on the booking form.
For cancellation and refund details, please see our Cancellation and Refund Policy.
Like all Piddington events, your attendance, engagement and support goes toward supporting funding Piddington's access to justice projects. These are: the Piddington PLT Fund, which supports the community legal centres (CLCs) that host Piddington PLT graduates to complete their hours required for admission; the Piddington Justice Fund for CLCs, to cover costs that they otherwise cannot meet; and, Kaartdijin, our First Nations Legal Education Fund. We also fund the Christine Wheeler PLT Scholarship and John Chaney Award for new law graduates and law students.
This program is delivered by The Piddington Society, an accredited CPD Provider approved by the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia. CPD schemes in other Australian jurisdictions do not accredit or pre-approve providers or courses. As a result, practitioners outside Western Australia must self-assess this activity against the CPD rules in their home jurisdiction and determine whether it meets their professional development obligations. Certificates of completion are issued to assist with record-keeping, but the final decision as to compliance rests with the individual practitioner and their local regulator. Participants should also note that some jurisdictions impose caps on certain delivery modes (e.g. South Australia limits 5 units per CPD year for web-based/recorded programs).
Location
Please see registration table above
Contact Details
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