Luana Torres is a Solicitor & Notary Public and is the Principal of Torres Lawyers, founded in 2008.
Luana was born and raised in Brazil and migrated to Australia with her family in the early nineties. She speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish.
She graduated from Macquarie University in Sydney with degrees in Law and Commerce in 2002 and was admitted by the Supreme Court of NSW later that year. Luana is also on the Register of Practitioners of the High Court of Australia.
Luana was the first female Brazilian to be admitted to legal practice in Australia, and the first Brazilian-Australian to be appointed as a Notary Public.
She began her legal career in Sydney as an In-House Counsel at one of Australia’s leading not for profit organisations, Wesley Mission, and later went into private practice, gaining valuable experience at a number of Sydney law firms.
Luana has over 20 years’ experience advising and assisting clients in different areas of law including; criminal & traffic; civil litigation; commercial; property; family; and wills & estates. Currently, Luana’s practice has a special focus on criminal law, and she frequently appears in the Local, District and Supreme Courts of NSW and other states.
Luana is a fierce advocate and has a passion for assisting clients gain access to justice, especially migrants like herself. She is on several Legal Aid Panels and devotes part of her time to pro-bono matters.
With over 15 years’ experience as a Notary Public, Luana provides high level notarial services and is a Councillor of the Society of Notaries of NSW, and a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries.
Luana is also an Adjunct Lecturer with the College of Law in Sydney and has assessed and mentored hundreds of students through their Practical Legal Training Program. She thoroughly enjoys sharing her experience and encouraging students to achieve their greatest potential.
Over the years, Luana has been an active member of the Brazilian Community in Sydney and has volunteered in several roles; including as Public Officer for BRACCA (Brazilian Community Council of Australia), a not for profit organisation registered with the Australian government for over 25 years; and as President and Spokesperson of the Brazilian Citizen Council of Sydney, representing Australia at international conferences in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Luana is passionate about what she does and committed to justice.