DBA Lawyers is pleased to announce the promotion of William Fettes and Shaun Backhaus as new directors of the firm.
This promotion recognises their ongoing commitment to outstanding client service, improving their technical and legal expertise and their ongoing valuable contribution to clients and the firm.
William and Shaun’s appointment as directors adds to DBA Lawyers senior leadership team with Daniel Butler, Director and Bryce Figot, Special Counsel, being four of the most experienced SMSF lawyers in Australia supported by a dedicated team of lawyers and other highly trained staff.
“William and Shaun are outstanding lawyers and I am very pleased to see them take this well-deserved step to directorship” remarked Daniel Butler, Director of DBA Lawyers. “Their long-term commitment and dedicated service has been crucial in upholding DBA Lawyers’ position as Australia’s leading SMSF law firm.”
William Fettes
William joined DBA Lawyers in 2015 and quickly developed exceptional proficiency in all aspects of superannuation law related to SMSFs with a particular focus on death benefit disputes, succession planning and family law superannuation splitting as well as federal and state tax law.
Among his numerous contributions, William developed our comprehensive family law superannuation splitting documentation and our tailored, efficient binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) service.
William is passionate about mentoring and assisting with the training and development of our team of lawyers. William also takes a keen interest in how cutting-edge information technology advancements can best be integrated into legal practice. As a key member of DBA Lawyers’ leadership team, he helps drive IT initiatives to enhance the firm’s technological capabilities, aiming to optimise efficiency and improve our delivery to service clients. William also manages our Online Ordering Portal and our Annual Update Service.
Shaun Backhaus
Shaun joined DBA Lawyers in 2017 and during his time with the firm he has excelled in all areas SMSF law and advice. He regularly advises on complex investment structures involving SMSFs, various trust law matters and federal and state taxes. Shaun often represents taxpayers in ATO matters such as reviews, audits, disclosures and private rulings where he provides robust advocacy and strategic guidance.
In addition, Shaun has played a pivotal role in expanding DBA Lawyers’ offerings in trust documents and related trust law and tax advice. While DBA Lawyers is well recognised in SMSF documents, we have also developed a solid reputation in trust documents and advice, offering an extensive range of quality trust services.
Shaun’s insights and experience have been instrumental in developing innovative solutions for clients. Shaun also mentors and assists with the training and development of our team of lawyers.
SMSF law team
Daniel Butler and Bryce Figot have in excess of 40 and 20 years of professional experience respectively. With the additions of William and Shaun, DBA Lawyer’s senior leadership team has over 80 years in combined experience.
Our broader team of lawyers, staff and our network of other experts including leading barristers and other experts enable our firm to continue to deliver the excellent quality and service our clients expect. We remain steadfastly committed to serving our clients and the SMSF industry by:
- providing practical and commercial solutions;
- maintaining technical excellence; and
- offering quality services at a competitive price.
Related articles:
The following links provide further information on some of the services referred to above:
- Family law superannuation splitting
- Tailored BDBN service
- Online Ordering Portal
- Annual Update Service
- Trust documents and related trust law and tax advice
- Federal and state taxes
- DBA Lawyers’ senior lawyers
DBA LAWYERS
20 January 2025
