the trust page

The people at the table

Three people, one converted timber house, and a rule that the kettle goes on before the file opens. This is everyone you will ever deal with.

Portrait of the principal lawyer seated at a kitchen table in soft window light — Margaret Elleryprincipal

Nobody plans to need me. So when they arrive, the kettle goes on first and the file stays closed until the tea is poured.

Margaret spent a decade at a city firm before deciding family law belonged closer to the kitchen than the boardroom. She founded Bellbird to practise it that way: papers in order, voices low, court as the last resort.

credentials and memberships

Accreditations and professional memberships for each practitioner are listed here on the live site.

95%

of matters guided to agreement without a final hearing.sample figure, shown for layout

The rest of the table

Tom Weir

associate

Tom writes the careful letters. Clients describe his drafting the way you would describe a good family doctor: thorough, unhurried, impossible to panic.

Portrait of the clerk smiling gently by the front window of the practice

Priya Chandran

clerk, and the first voice

Priya answers before the third ring and remembers every name. If you called once in March, she will know your matter in September.

The small legal team talking together around a kitchen table with papers laid out — the second chair is always warm

A practice that has quietly redefined what a suburban family firm can be.
regional legal directory, sample citation

Clients praise a calm, methodical manner and complete clarity on costs.
peer review guide, sample citation

A converted timber house office at dusk with warm windows lit — lights on until the last call

A converted house, on purpose

Bellbird works from a timber house with a garden gate, not a tower with a lobby. Hard conversations go better in rooms built for living in, so that is where we have them.

the process document

How a matter runs here

Five steps on one cord, from first meeting to signed agreement, with court held deliberately last.

Walk the five steps

You have met the people. The next step is a cup of tea and an hour.

Book a first appointment