Our History
After working in local, top tier and mid tier firms for 10 years, Peter Dascarolis decided to set up Terracon Legal. The firm was established with a goal to provide a modern and sophisticated approach to providing legal advice, specialising in ACT and NSW property matters. Since launching in 2018, we have now a built a team of like-minded, hardworking and driven individuals.
Our People
Peter Dascarolis
Partner
Contact
Qualifications
Australian National University
Bachelor of Laws (Hons)
Bachelor of Commerce
College of law
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
Activities & Affiliations
Hellenic Club of Canberra, Director
ACT Law Society, Member
Future Directions Committee (Property Council of Australia), Member
Property Council, Member
Property Committee of the ACT Law Society, Member
Past Experience
Peter has a decade of experience acting on a range of structured property transactions, in which he has assisted with the leasing, divestment, acquisition, and development of real property. Peter started his career at Trinity Law in Canberra working for private development groups before joining Blake Dawson (now Ashurst) in 2011. Peter then relocated to Mills Oakley as one of the first nine employees to open the firm’s office in Canberra. Peter was one of just eight finalists nationally in the “Young Gun of the Year” category at the 2015 Australian Law Awards. In April 2018, Peter made the move to open a boutique property firm, Terracon Legal.
Yanna Dascarolis
COO
Past Experience
Yanna started her career with Minter Ellison in Canberra in the projects and real estate team where she worked on a range of property matters for both private and government clients nationally. After returning from maternity leave, she joined the Foreign Investment and Trade team where she worked on a broad range of M&A and real estate deals, including complex FIRB applications for a range of clients including PE Funds, ASX listed companies, and large private property investors. Yanna joined the Terracon Legal team in June 2020 advising clients on a wide range of general commercial and property law matters, including acquisition and disposal transactions, due diligence and complex commercial leasing for both tenants and landlords.
She has now transitioned into more of a management role as our Operations Head.
Contact
Qualifications
Australian National University
Bachelor of Laws (Hons)
Bachelor of Arts (International Relations) (Arabic)
College of law
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
Activities & Affiliations
ACT Law Society, Member
Rhys Mitchell
Partner
Past Experience
Rhys has experience working on a broad range of commercial and property matters, including commercial sales and acquisitions, financing and commercial leasing in ACT and NSW. Rhys employs a commercial approach to assist clients to progress transactions as efficiently and effectively as possible. Rhys commenced his legal career at Trinity Law in Canberra working in the commercial team for a range of private and developer clients. Following that, Rhys joined King & Wood Mallesons Canberra office working in the projects and real estate team where he gained experience working for multi-national, international and government clients. In August 2020, Rhys joined the Terracon Legal team and joined the partnership in January 2022.
Contact
Qualifications
University of New South Wales
Juris Doctor (Distinction)
Bachelor of Science
ANU School of Legal Practice
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
Activities & Affiliations
ACT Law Society, Member
Young Lawyers Committee of the ACT Law Society, Committee Member
Property Law Committee of the ACT Law Society,
Observer Member
Georgina Phelps
Partner
Contact
Qualifications
University of Technology Sydney Juris Doctor
University of Sydney Bachelor of Arts
College of Law
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
Activities & Affiliations
ACT Law Society, Member
Past Experience
Georgina advises clients on a wide range of property and commercial law matters from acquisition and disposal of land and other building matters in the ACT and other jurisdictions, to complex commercial leasing and occupancy arrangements and general commercial matters. Georgina started her career with BAL Lawyers in Canberra. Following that, Georgina joined national firm HWL Ebsworth in their Canberra office where she worked on a range of property and development matters for both private and government clients. Georgina joined the Terracon Legal team in November 2021, and soon after joined the partnership in January 2023.
Harry Kay
Special Counsel - Litigation
Past Experience
Harry’s expertise as a dispute resolution professional ensures that he pursues alternative dispute resolution methods as well as litigation where necessary, in order to provide clients with timely and cost effective results. Harry has acted on behalf of both private clients and various insolvency firms in many matters before the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, in relation to both the Corporations Act and Bankruptcy Act claims, and acting for both plaintiffs and defendants. Harry also has experience in the operation of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth), and the various Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Acts.
Harry is one of only a few Canberra lawyers to have completed the Insolvency Education Program with ARITA. He is a past Deputy Chair of the Australian Law Council Insolvency Law Committee (ACT Chapter). Prior to joining Terracon Legal in 2020, Harry worked as special counsel at Meyer Vandenberg Lawyers, as a senior associate at Mills Oakley, and previously managed the litigation practice of a local Canberra firm.
Contact
Qualifications
Australian National University
Master of Laws
University of New England
Bachelor of Laws
ARITA/University of Technology, Sydney
Advanced Certificate in Insolvency
Australian National University
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
Monash University
Bachelor of Economics
Activities & Affiliations
ACT Law Society, Member
Insolvency & Restructuring Committee (Law Council of Australia), Member
Michelle Gold
Special Counsel - Wills and Estates
Contact
Qualifications
University of Canberra
Bachelor of Laws
ANU School of Legal Practice
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
Activities & Affiliations
ACT Estate Planning Group
Doyle’s Guide - Leading Wills & Estates Litigation Lawyers Canberra, 2022
Past Experience
Michelle’s expertise as a wills, deceased estates and estate disputes lawyer is vast. Having almost exclusively worked in these fields since commencing employment in law in 2000, and being admitted to practice 11 years ago, Michelle has had experience dealing with both private and professional executors, standard wills and testamentary trust wills, complex estate planning matters including trusts, complex company structures and blended families, and POAs for both personal matters and companies. She has particular specialisation in estate litigation matters, appearing at various levels of court, at guardianship tribunals and running mediations. She has dealt with various challenges to Wills matters such as family provision, testamentary capacity, construction of Wills and constructive trust claims.
Michelle has been consistently recognised as a leading wills and estates litigation lawyers by Doyles Guide for over four years. Before joining Terracon Legal in 2022, Michelle worked at MV Law for the majority of her career.
Jordan Davis-Kimber
Manager - Conveyancing
Contact
Qualifications
NSW Government Office of Fair Trading Licenced Conveyancer - Licence No. 06002958
Macquarie University
Conveyancing Law and Practice
Canberra Institute of Technology
Certificate III - Business Administration (Legal)
Past Experience
Jordan is a highly experienced and well regarded conveyancer. She recently completed a Conveyancing Law and Practice qualification and is now one of the few Licenced Conveyancers in the ACT registered under the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 (NSW). She previously worked at Watts Mccray Lawyers and Capital Lawyers, before joining Terracon Legal as our first staff member in May 2018.
Jordan has an attention to detail and methodology which ensures our clients transactions proceed and settle without issue.
Ying Tan
Manager
Wills & Estates
Contact
Qualifications
Australian National University
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Science
College of Law
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
College of Law
Master of Laws (Wills and Estates, and Estate Planning)
Activities & Affiliations
ACT Law Society, Member
.
Past Experience
Joining Terracon Legal in 2020, Ying manages our Wills and Estates practice and brings a breadth of experience in all aspects of succession law having specialised in wills, estate planning and deceased estates since 2014. Having worked in firms that range from small to nationally-based firms throughout her career, Ying advises clients on a wide range of wills and estate matters in the ACT and NSW.
She has a uniquely empathetic approach with her matters and her clients, whether it be with tailoring their estate planning, or assisting families and executors in navigating the administration of deceased estates. Ying’s estate planning practice is also informed by her experience in commercial law, including the thorough consideration of trust and company structures from an estate planning perspective.
Liz Dal Cortivo
Manager - Commercial Leasing
Contact
Qualifications
Charles Sturt University
Bachelor of Business Studies
Canberra Institute of Technology
Advanced Diploma in Hotel Management
Past Experience
Liz manages commercial and retail leasing matters and provides a broad range of services for small to medium private companies and large corporate groups in the ACT. Liz consistently demonstrates a high standard above the benchmark with her excellent interpersonal skills, positive attitude and efficiency.
Liz began her career at Maxim Chartered Accountants in 2012, and went on to become Practice Manager. Her strong work ethic was noticed by connections amongst the Canberra business community and Liz was separately engaged to assist in secretarial positions at board meetings. She went on to become Communication and Events Coordinator at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and subsequent to that was Leasing Manager at Trinity Law from 2018 until joining the team at Terracon Legal in October 2020.
Jess Pateman
Finance Manager
Past Experience
Jess started her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a cadet, before going on to becoming a chartered accountant. She studied in America and worked in London for a while before recently returning to Australia.
Jess joins Terracon Legal as our Finance Manager, bringing all things finance in house.
Contact
Qualifications
University of Canberra
Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting
Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand
Alexandra Parisi
Legal Secretary/Office Manager
Past Experience
Ally started her career at Allhomes, before going on to work in various administration roles across ACT businesses including Trilogy Funding, MV Law and the Australian National University College of Engineering and Computer Science
Ally joined Terracon Legal in 2022 as our Legal Secretary and Office Manager.
Contact
Qualifications
University of Canberra
Bachelor of Business Administration/Bachelor of Management
Will Vardos
Solicitor
Contact
Qualifications
University of Canberra
Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Arts (International Studies)
College of Law
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
Past Experience
Will is our third home grown lawyer here at Terracon Legal. He recently completed his Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, being admitted to practice in June 2023. Will predominantly works across our commercial and leasing practices, and also supports the team by fulfilling a variety of legal drafting and administrative tasks across all areas of the practice. He performs legal research, prepares lease documentation and assists in drafting commercial contracts.
India Ketter
Conveyancer
Contact
Past Experience
India is a highly experienced residential conveyancer, having moved to Canberra from Brisbane 6 years ago. She previously worked at KJB Law, before joining Terracon Legal in May 2022.
India has vast experience in both ACT and NSW residential conveyancing.
Casey Minns
Paralegal
Contact
Qualifications
Australian National University
Juris Doctor (expected completion 2024)
Australian National University
Bachelor of Psychology (Honors)
Past Experience
Casey previously worked as a legal assistant at a small Canberra firm before joining Terracon in May 2022. Casey works exclusively in our conveyancing practice, particularly enjoying the settlement stage of the residential conveyancing process.
Aiden Blecher
Paralegal
Past Experience
Aiden is currently completing his double degree in Law/Mathematics. He assists the team in performing legal research, legal drafting and various administrative tasks.
Contact
paralegal@terraconlegal.com.au
Qualifications
Australian National University
Bachelor or Laws/Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences (expected completion 2025)
Christina Hummer
Paralegal
Contact
Past Experience
Christina is currently completing her double degree in Law/Accounting at ANU. She predominantly assists the Wills and Estates team in performing legal research, legal drafting and various administrative tasks.
paralegal@terraconlegal.com.au
Qualifications
Australian National University
Bachelor or Laws/Bachelor of Commerce (expected completion 2024)
Georgia De Jongh
Paralegal
Contact
paralegal@terraconlegal.com.au
Qualifications
Australian National University
Bachelor or Business Administration/Bachelor of Laws (expected completion 2025)