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Level 4
66 Kings Park Road
West Perth 6005

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Legal Practice Director

Richard Klimek

LLB, Accredited Family Law Specialist
Managing Director

Rishi Wijay

BCom, LLB
Practice Manager

Julie Visser
Senior Consultant

Devin Sanghavi

BCom, LLB, GDLP, Accredited Family Law Specialist
Senior Associate

James Versteegen
Associate

Paul Savvas
Associate

Kyle August
Senior Consultant

Lachlan Finchett
Lawyer

Isabella Fitzpatrick
Paralegal

Tiffany Scott
Paralegal

Janelle Ireland
Paralegal

Grace Simmons
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Richard KlimekLLB, Accredited Family Law Specialist

Legal Practice Director

In 2005 Richard established the firm and became its founding Director.

Richard has practised exclusively in family law his entire career. The Law Society of Western Australia has recognised Richard as an Accredited Family Law Specialist. His contributions to family law include serving on the executive of the Family Law Practitioners’ Association of W.A., guest lecturing at university law schools, serving as a long-standing board member of W.A.’s largest community legal centre and making submissions to the Law Reform Commission regarding family violence legislation.

Richard has considerable experience as a trial lawyer, having been the barrister in over 250 trials. This experience includes highly complicated financial and parenting matters in the Family Court of Western Australia, along with highly contested Violence Restraining Order proceedings in the various Magistrates Courts of Western Australia. These trials have often been heard by the court over a few weeks and involved complex expert evidence.

While most firms brief out Trials to independent Barristers, Richard acts as the firm’s in-house Counsel. This offers clients direct access to the Barrister who will oversee their matter from beginning to end.

Richard is also heavily involved in philanthropy outside the practise of law, most notably as an Ambassador of White Ribbon Australia. In that role, he co-founded their major annual event in Western Australia, both in terms of raising awareness and funds against family violence.

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  • Telephone 61 8 9221 5775
  • Email richard@klimekwijay.com
  • Qualifications Bachelor of Laws, The University of Western Australia
    Accredited Family Law Specialist
    Nationally Accredited Independent Children’s Lawyer
  • Memberships Law Society of Western Australia
    Family Law Practitioners’ Association of Western Australia
    Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia
    Family Pathways Network
  • Expertise All areas of family law
    Restraining order matters
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Rishi WijayBCom, LLB

Managing Director

Rishi is the Managing Director of the firm. His role involves oversight of complex financial matters undertaken by the firm.

Alongside his legal qualifications, Rishi has considerable commercial experience and qualifications. This has resulted in him becoming a trusted advisor to mutual clients of significant Perth accounting firms, commercial lawyers, financial planners and medical professionals. He has guest lectured at university law schools and given presentations to other related professionals.

Rishi excels in complicated financial matters. He routinely acts for high net wealth clients, whose matters involve intricate financial issues and structures such as partnerships, family trusts, discretionary trusts, unit trusts, trading companies, self-managed superannuation funds, businesses and other commercial ventures. He regularly advises clients in cases that raise issues at the intersection of family law and related disciplines such as taxation, trusts and bankruptcy.

Apart from the rigours of litigation, Rishi is also a skilled negotiator. He has acted for clients in many difficult settlement negotiations, and he regularly secures outcomes that exceed client expectations.

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  • Telephone 61 8 9221 5775
  • Email rishi@klimekwijay.com
  • Paralegal Janelle Ireland, Tiffany Scott
  • Qualifications Bachelor of Laws, Murdoch University
    Bachelor of Commerce, Murdoch University
  • Memberships Family Law Practitioners’ Association of Western Australia
  • Expertise All areas of family law
    Restraining order matters
    Wills, Probate & Letters of Administration
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Julie Visser

Practice Manager

Julie joined Klimek & Wijay Family Lawyers in May 2019 as their Practice Manager. She has over 20+ years’ experience in the legal sector and previously served as the Practice Manager of another Perth based family law firm. Julie also worked as the Legal Support Manager for an Australian leading national law firm for over 8 years.

Julie has expertise in areas such as people management and development; performance management; career development; workforce planning; retention and engagement; training and practice management. She also has expertise in areas such as service delivery, operations and workforce planning.

In her spare time, Julie enjoys music, reading and spending time with family, friends and her two Aussie Bulldogs Delilah and Howard.

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Devin SanghaviBCom, LLB, GDLP, Accredited Family Law Specialist

Senior Consultant

Devin joined the firm as a Senior Associate in 2014, having previously worked in a multi-disciplinary law practice.

While Devin now practises exclusively in family law, he brings to the firm considerable experience in the areas of conveyancing, wills and probate, estate litigation, restraining orders and criminal law. This broad experience enables him to provide holistic advice on the wide range of issues that can arise in family law.

Devin is a strategic thinker. His pragmatic approach and attention to detail enables him to effectively resolve matters with the highest degree of acrimony and complexity.

Devin prides himself on providing legal representation that adheres to an exemplary standard of ethics and professionalism.

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  • Telephone 61 8 9221 5775
  • Email devin@klimekwijay.com
  • Paralegal Janelle Ireland and Tiffany Scott
  • Qualifications Bachelor of Laws, The University of Western Australia
    Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Business Law), The University of Western Australia
    Accredited Family Law Specialist
    Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, The College of Law
  • Memberships Law Society of Western Australia
    Family Law Practitioners Association
  • Expertise Property settlement (de facto & matrimonial)
    Children’s matters
    Child support
    Pre-nuptial or post-separation Financial Agreements
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James Versteegen

Senior Associate

James joined Klimek & Wijay as a Senior Associate in 2019, having practised family law exclusively since his admission in 2013.

Having worked at both regional and national firms, James has extensive experience in all areas of parenting and financial related matters, from simple divorce and consent order applications to complex child relocation cases.

James has a particular interest in advocacy and community outreach. He is committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for his clients through alternative dispute resolution if litigation may be reasonably avoided.

Outside of family law, James is an avid reader of history and a passionate Perth Glory supporter.

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Paul Savvas

Associate

Paul joined Klimek & Wijay in early 2020. Before joining Klimek & Wijay Paul worked in a boutique law firm specialising in family law and restraining orders.

Paul has practised almost exclusively in family law and restraining order matters, advising and representing clients both in the Family Court of Western Australia and Magistrates Court of Western Australia.

Paul has experience advising clients in all facets of family law matters ranging from simple divorce matters to financial and complex parenting matters. Paul operates with a detail orientated and client focused approach.

Paul is admitted as a practitioner in the Supreme Court of Western Australia and High Court of Australia.

When not at work, Paul is an active member in the community. He is a past chair of a K to 12 private school and is currently serving as a committee member on several community and sporting groups.

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  • Telephone 61 8 9221 5775
  • Email paul@klimekwijay.com
  • Paralegal Andre Fleming
  • Qualifications Bachelor of Laws, Murdoch University
    Bachelor of Commerce, Murdoch University
    Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, The College of Law
    Certificate of Legal Business Skills, The College of Law
  • Memberships Law Society of Western Australia
    Family Law Practitioners’ Association of Western Australia
    Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia
    Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association
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Kyle August

Associate

Kyle August completed his Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts (majoring in History and English) at the University of WA and was admitted in the Supreme Court of WA in 2014.

Kyle previously worked at the Department of Corrective Services and Legal Aid WA before joining Klimek & Wijay Family Lawyers in 2015. In 2016 he moved to Canberra where he worked for Relationships Australia ACT and Legal Aid ACT. In 2020, Kyle returned to Perth and worked as a Legal Policy Officer at the Office of the Commissioner for Victims of Crime before returning to Klimek and Wijay Family Lawyers as an Associate Lawyer.

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Lachlan Finchett

Senior Consultant
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Isabella Fitzpatrick

Lawyer

Isabella graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts (Politics & International Relations) in 2018 and was admitted in the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2021.

Isabella joined the Klimek and Wijay team in January 2022 as a lawyer after completing her Practical Legal Training at a boutique law firm. Isabella holds a particular interest in family law matters and provides a detail orientated approach to all tasks she undertakes.

Outside of work, Isabella enjoys cooking, painting and practicing yoga.

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Tiffany Scott

Paralegal

Tiffany joined our firm in 2018 as a Paralegal. Tiffany specialises in providing high level legal support and has previously worked with a national multi-disciplinary law firms for 16 years.

Tiffany has over 20 years of legal experience and is a dedicated addition to our team.

Her areas of expertise include debt recovery and family law, but her passion has been with family law where she has previously supported an accredited family law specialist for 12 years.

Tiffany studied and received a Diploma in Legal Services through Victoria University in 2014.

In her spare time, Tiffany enjoys music, travel adventures, cooking and painting.

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Janelle Ireland

Paralegal

Janelle joined Klimek & Wijay Family Lawyers in June 2016 as a paralegal. She brings a high level of legal support to one of our Directors, our Senior Consultant and Senior Associates.

Janelle has previously worked for reputable law firms both in Perth and in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. She has 14 years of family law experience assisting lawyers and counsel during court hearings and trials.

In her spare time, Janelle enjoys keeping fit, camping, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

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Grace Simmons

Paralegal

Grace joined Klimek & Wijay Family Lawyers as a receptionist in September 2020 . She prides herself on providing a high level of support to clients and the legal team. Grace is currently studying a Bachelor of Laws at Murdoch University and enjoys the intricacies of Law School. Grace has previously worked abroad in London, England for some years and has acquired experience from her travels. In her spare time, Grace entertains her toy poodle Ted and enjoys the beach.

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Find us at

Level 4
66 Kings Park Road
West Perth 6005

Follow us on

LinkedIn