Law firms Dawes & Vary and Felthams are delighted to announce a merger to take effect from 27 October 2014. The merged firm will trade as “Dawes & Vary” and will be located at 159 Welsford Street, Shepparton.

Both firms have served many generations of clients in the Goulburn Valley. Dawes & Vary was established in 1893 and Felthams in 1938, so this is quite a significant move for both firms.

Felthams have loyal clients and we look forward to continuing working with those clients, under the new banner and from a new location. We really hope that our clients will celebrate this move with us, and enjoy the benefits of the broad range of expertise and modern facilities that will be available to them following the merger.

Charles Hart, a director of Dawes & Vary based in the Shepparton office said that both firms have had a strong presence in the area of Property Law, with Felthams being synonymous with the residential developments of Kialla Lakes, Archer’s Field, Northside Estates, River Park and many others.

“The merged firm of Dawes & Vary will continue that property based focus, and in addition provide legal services in a range of other areas including Commercial & Civil Disputes, Commercial Law, Retail and Commercial Leasing, Sales of Businesses, Succession Planning, Family Law, Mortgages, Water Law, Wills and Deceased Estates, “ said Charles. “We have expertise in Victoria and NSW, so we can cover most legal matters that arise”.

“This merger will make Dawes & Vary one of the largest regionally based law firms in Victoria. ” Charles said. “Clients have the benefit of access to the combined knowledge of 26 lawyers and legal executives, (including Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialists) and over 65 staff members.”

“One person can’t be an expert in everything”, Charles said. “We are a large enough firm to have lawyers who specialise in particular areas of law. We think that gives us an edge.”

“This is the way of the future,” Charles added. “Clients have a right to expect us to do all we can to offer top quality legal services at a reasonable price. Being bigger gives us costs efficiencies, and allows us to offer a broad range of legal expertise delivered in the most efficient and cost effective way. The merger makes perfect sense. We are a progressive, modern law firm on the move, and we are excited about where the merger will take us.”

Dawes & Vary has offices in Echuca, Tatura, Kyabram, Cobram, Nathalia, Rochester and Shepparton.