Obituary - Margaret Ley Mandelert

19Jun2018

BAR ROLL NO: 2068

It is with deep regret that the Bar Council informs members of the death last Saturday 16 June 2018, of Margaret Ley Mandelert (née Temple). Margaret was 75 years old (born 17 October 1942). 

Her Funeral is this Thursday 21 June 2018 at 11 am in the Boyd Chapel of the Springvale Botanical Cemetery, 600 Princes Highway, Springvale.

It is with deep regret that the Bar Council informs members of the death last Saturday 16 June 2018, of Margaret Ley Mandelert (née Temple). Margaret was 75 years old (born 17 October 1942).

Margaret was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies College in Burwood and at the University of Melbourne. She served Articles with Desmond Johnston at McLaughlin, Eaves & Johnston; was admitted to practice in March 1966; and remained with the firm as a Solicitor.

From conveyancing contracts and divorce under the 1958 Act, she broadened her experience to all aspects of motor vehicle legislation, contracts, insurance and claims in the RACV Legal Department; then further to personal injuries, workers’ compensation and industrial accidents, including appearance work, at Hedderwick, Fookes & Alston (now the international firm Allens Linklaters).

Travel took her to the United Kingdom and her breadth of experience served her well. For some 18 months, she worked in common law, divorce and personal injuries at the London firm Stephenson, Harwood & Tatham (now the international firm, Stephenson Harwood).

Travelling then to Switzerland, she worked for nearly 2 years in Geneva, in the Legal Department of Proctor & Gamble AG, drafting and advising on international distribution and manufacturing agreements and the various international statutory regimes in which they operated; also, corporations law work for companies in the Proctor & Gamble Group controlled from Geneva.

Upon her engagement to Jean Charles Mandelert, in accordance with the company policy against married couples, she resigned from Proctor & Gamble. They married in Switzerland in May 1972; and, a little over a year later, came to live permanently in Australia.

Margaret practised as a Solicitor first with W B & O McCutcheon; then with B W Vassis & Associates; then, in August 1976, she established her own firm, Margaret Mandelert & Co, in Marland House in the City. She served on the Law Institute Committees for the Family Law Section; Law Reform; and the Solicitors’ Prize. She was active in the Women Lawyers Association; and an example and mentor to women in the profession – in particular, the women to whom she gave full-time, skilled work in her law firm, training, encouragement and confidence.

She signed the Bar Roll in May 1986 and read with E C S (“Stuart”) Campbell (now retired from the County Court). She quickly established a substantial practice in Family Law – a determined and forceful advocate; an early mediator under the Victorian Bar Scheme in 1995 and nationally in 2008. She had one Reader, Dr Renata Alexander. Margaret was named a Victorian Bar Legend in 2012. She practised 32 years – in the face of serious illness, to within a few weeks of her death.

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