Entering a new era

ON March 1, Coulter Legal appointed a new leadership team, elevating three existing employees to business owners and directors of the firm.

Among the three new directors are existing principal lawyer and head of family and relationship law Bonnie Phillips; general manager Belinda Perisic; and principal lawyer and head of wills, estates and succession planning Stefan Manche.

Bonnie, Belinda and Stefan join existing director Tom White, who will assume the role of managing principal as the outgoing managing principal and director Anne O’Loughlin steps down to continue her long-standing legal career as consultant with the firm.

What is particularly exciting about these new appointments is the ongoing commitment of Coulter Legal to gender equity, with 50/50 representation of women and men at director level. As the recipient of back-to-back Business in Heels Gender Equity Awards in 2022 and 2023, gender equity has been a crucial cornerstone of the cultural foundation at Coulter Legal.

Bonnie’s progression to becoming a director of Coulter Legal paints an inspiring story of success. Since joining the firm in 2019, Bonnie has expanded the family and relationship law team to be one of the largest family and relationship law teams in Victoria, with 20 lawyers located across Geelong, Torquay and Melbourne. While doing so, Bonnie has raised two young children, with the support and flexibility offered by Coulter Legal to its parents and carers. Moving forward, Bonnie is keen to promote the continued growth and success of all departments across the firm while facilitating work-life balance for all employees.

Belinda’s role as a director of Coulter Legal takes a modern and progressive path within the legal industry, in that Belinda is not a lawyer and has not studied law. Rather, Belinda brings more than two decades of leadership experience and a focus on people and culture to the firm, having worked with at Coulter Legal for more than nine years, seven of which were in the capacity of general manager. Belinda is now looking forward to a new chapter of managing the demands of owning and operating a business, while balancing life with a young family including primary school-aged children.

Coulter Legal continues to create opportunities for its people to learn and grow in an environment that recognises the challenges that families, and mostly women, experience in the pursuit of business excellence and quality time with their loved ones.

For more information, and to hear more about the client service offerings and exciting projects that Coulter Legal has planned

for 2025, head to coulterlegal.com.au