•  family and DVA matters;
• WorkCover employment law;
• criminal law;
• estate-planning;
• conveyancing;
• commercial and property law.

Deborah began working in law in 1996 and was admitted to the profession in New South Wales in 1998. Since then, she's worked primarily as a general practitioner in a wide range of legal areas, including family and DVA matters, WorkCover employment law, criminal law, estate-planning, conveyancing, and commercial and property law.

In the quarter-century since you were admitted, the world has changed in so many ways. From your perspective as a lawyer, what sorts of things do you see people needing lawyers for now, perhaps more than ever?

"Over the past 25 years of my experience, I've noted the tempo of social change and growth of technology which have seen the emergence of new risks leading to the need for legal innovation to protect people," Deborah says. "On the technology side, the use of computers and easy access to the internet has inspired legislation at federal and state levels to safeguard against abuse and computer crimes.

"One such crime is email phishing, where an impostor pretends to be someone you trust and sends an email which appears authentic. This often results in the theft of personal information, and even identity theft and intercepting funds meant for someone else. In this situation, both the  buyer and the seller suffer a loss—the person being paid still needs to be paid and the person paying is left out of pocket and, naturally, not wanting to pay again. This raises complex issues requiring expert legal knowledge to navigate."

In recent years, in addition to mediation, Deborah's primary focus has been on estate-planning, conveyancing, and commercial and property law.

She works closely with clients and strives hard to ensure that they receive the best legal advice and in understandable terms, resulting in a good outcome. "It was this philosophy at KJB Law that attracted me to the firm," she says.