This is Allens

As I've advanced in my career, I've found real purpose in making my clients' lives easier. I've had the privilege of working on high-stakes matters with great clients and great people at Santos, Rio, Peabody, BHP and Queensland Investment Corporation, to name a few. As a litigator, I deal with clients in high-pressure situations, and my focus is always on making it as easy as possible for them. Clients come to us for our technical expertise, but they stay because we set a clear strategy tailored to their business context, we simplify the complex and provide actionable advice that helps them make decisions.

To me, being a leader doesn't mean having all the answers. It means gathering diverse perspectives and charting a path that has collective buy in – achieving great outcomes is a collaborative effort.

The overarching theme of my time at Allens has been the freedom to carve my own path. I’ve always been supported to seek out and seize opportunities within the firm and beyond it. This kind of transformational leadership, where you’re encouraged to discover what motivates you and backed to go after it, has been fundamental to my development as a lawyer and is what I endeavour to pay forward.

When I started at Allens as a graduate, I saw the two-year training program as a great foundation for my professional life; I did not think I was embarking on a long term career in law, let alone a path to partnership. Like many law and political science students, I envisioned a career at the United Nations or an international NGO. I was surprised to find that I loved being a commercial lawyer and litigator – and that prompted a pretty big career rethink. I still felt the need to explore my long-held career goals, so I took a break from law to work at the United Nations in humanitarian affairs – an amazing opportunity, but one that reaffirmed that I did want to be a commercial lawyer.

My decision to return to law was driven by a desire for interesting and challenging work, alongside a team of equally driven individuals, with continuous growth opportunities. Once I decided to return to law, there was no doubt in my mind that I would return to Allens – a significant part of that was the Allens culture and my experience as a young lawyer of being able to integrate pro bono, philanthropic and reconciliation initiatives into my daily work.

The time I can dedicate to supporting change at both individual and systemic levels through pro bono work and our community programs remains a huge part of why I love my job - highlights for me have been advocating to correct legislated injustices against the LBGTQ+ community and facilitating conversations with truly amazing First Nations' leaders.