Our People
Our people are experienced family lawyers who are committed to providing the best possible service to our clients. We are resolution focused and highly regarded within the Australian and international legal community for our knowledge, expertise and standards.
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Ian Kennedy AM - Senior Partner
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Ian is Senior Partner of Kennedy Partners. He has an extensive and highly-regarded national and international family law practice, primarily in major financial cases and difficult multi-jurisdictional matters, and is an experienced mediator and accredited arbitrator.
Ian is Immediate past President of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He served as Chair of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia from 2005 to 2008, and has been Editor of Australian Family Lawyer since 1988. He is a former Executive Member of the International Bar Association Family Law Committee, and a former director of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators. His memberships include the Family Law Section of Lawasia and various other international bodies.
Ian is a sought-after lecturer on family law and related issues nationally and internationally and has presented at conferences in all Australian States and Territories and more than 20 countries around the world. He is the author of numerous articles, papers and publications on family law and associated topics, and is Australian correspondent for International Family Law.
Ian was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004 Australian Day Honours List for his services to law, legal education and national and international professional organisations, and in November 2004 received the inaugural Law Institute of Victoria President’s award for outstanding contributions by a practitioner in specialised practice which promote and advance the legal profession and benefit the community.
Ian has been described in Legal Profiles as "very highly regarded by his fellow practitioners both in Australia and overseas" and "especially held in high esteem for handling difficult and complex matters".
His enviable international experience and connections enable Kennedy Partners to provide a unique service to clients involved in family issues encompassing more than one jurisdiction.
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Olivia Grobtuch - Partner
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Olivia is a founding partner of Kennedy Partners. She is a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria and the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.
Olivia has been practising in family law for over 20 years. She obtained her accreditation as a family law specialist in 1990 and has been a member of various committees of the Law Institute of Victoria including sub-committees dealing with family law reform. She has presented numerous papers relating to specialist family law topics and has regularly attended family law conferences in both the national and international arenas.
She has been involved in a number of important matters in the High Court of Australia, and she has also worked extensively on international family law matters, and has considerable experience in this field.
Olivia has an extensive family law practice and is well known for her expertise in areas such as complex property settlements and children's matters, injunctive relief and restraining orders, and cohabitation and pre-nuptial agreements.
Olivia enjoys an excellent reputation as one of the most highly regarded family law practitioners in Melbourne, and has been described by Legal Profiles as "great-excellent".
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Susanne Khung - Associate
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Susanne has been practising in family law since 1993. She is a highly skilled and well regarded practitioner, and has extensive experience in all aspects of family law including litigation, contested property and parenting matters and de facto relationships. Her major achievements include the successful conduct and management of many important court cases involving complex financial structures, high net worth parties and difficult and novel legal issues and concepts relating to fraud, tax liabilities, trust structures and sham transactions.
Susanne joined Kennedy Partners as an Associate in 2005. She is a member of the Family Law Sections of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria, and a former member of Victoria Legal Aid's panel of Independent Children's Lawyers.
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John Spender - Associate
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John joined Kennedy Partners as an Associate in 2007, and has been practising in the area of family law since 1993. In 2003, he obtained accreditation as a specialist family law practitioner from the Law Institute of Victoria.
John has extensive experience and a high level of expertise in all areas of family law. He has represented clients in complex and highly contested parenting proceedings and in property disputes involving intricate corporate and trust structures, and taxation issues. He has developed a keen understanding of the means to achieve a division of property between couples in the most financially effective manner. John also has considerable experience in cases involving issues of spousal maintenance, child support and adult child maintenance, and disputes between de facto and same sex couples.
Since 2003, John has been a member of various committees of the Family Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria. In 2004, as part of John's involvement in LIV Committees, he was instrumental in the drafting of the submission to the Victorian Government recommending that same sex partners be able to register their relationships. Such legislation was enacted in Victoria in 2008.
John is a regular presenter at family law continuing legal education seminars.
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Petra Thomson - Associate
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Petra joined Kennedy Partners as an Associate in 2003, and has been practising in the area of family law and family relationships since 1996.
Petra has expertise in property settlement under the Family Law Act including defacto property matters; children’s matters including residence, relocation, child support and child maintenance; spousal maintenance; divorce and financial arrangements; and financial agreements.
She is skilled in dealing with complex financial structures and in developing an excellent understanding of the desires and needs of her clients in relation to their assets.
She has a passion for family law and for assisting clients in need of matrimonial advice and assistance.
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Maria Tenace - Associate
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Maria joined Kennedy Partners as an Associate in 2008 and has been practising exclusively in family law since 2000.
Maria has expertise in all aspects of family law including complex parenting proceedings, financial disputes, spousal and adult child maintenance, child support, disputes between de facto couples and financial agreements.
Maria is a Member of the Executive Committee, Education Committee and Courts Practice Committee of the Law Institute of Victoria Family Law Section. She is also a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.
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Amanda Humphreys - Associate
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Amanda completed her Bachelor of Laws with Honours at Monash University in 1999 and is accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria as a specialist practitioner in Family Law. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sociology.
Following her graduation Amanda accepted a position as a Research Assistant to the Judges of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Victoria before entering private practice and joining Kennedy Partners in 2004.
Amanda is a member of the Family Law and Young Lawyers' Sections of the Law Institute of Victoria and of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia. She actively supports the concept of making legal assistance accessible to all members of the community, and continues to volunteer as a solicitor at a suburban Community Legal Centre.
Amanda has expertise in all aspects of family law including parenting and financial matters and has worked extensively with Kennedy Partners' Senior Partner, Ian Kennedy AM in the field of international matrimonial law, jurisdictional disputes, child abduction proceedings, international relocation and parenting cases, international child support issues and cross-national property matters.
She maintains her interest in research and writing, having had a number of papers published and winning the Young Lawyers Legal Writing Competition in 2003.