Beyond Billables

If you’re interested in changing with the times as a legal professional and as an entrepreneur, then you’ll definitely want to check out this latest episode of the Beyond Billables show. Meet Sarah Bartholomeusz. Sarah is the founder and director of You Legal, one of the fastest growing corporate law firms in Australia. Her focus is corporate and commercial law, helping growing businesses at all stages of their lifecycle. She has extensive experience in the law, including providing high-level legal and corporate governance support to ASX listed companies.

Check out this episode to hear a first-hand account of how Sarah dealt with being let go and ultimately rose up to start her own business. In the conversation, we also touched on the changing dynamics of legal practice, the importance of working off referrals, and ultimately what lawyers can do to prepare for the future.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE TO HEAR ALL THIS, PLUS TOPICS LIKE:

• How You Legal grew and attracted clients so quickly
• Why starting in a top tier law firm is a perfect career foundation
• You Legal’s approach to scaling
• Why pressure is a necessary impetus to creating valuable solutions
• How ‘going out there’ is starting to become the safer option
• The pros and cons of a remote, globally distributed team
• Sarah’s take on AI and offshoring
• How to make hiring decisions as a new law firm

 

Links

LinkedIn
Boardroom Boot Camp
You Legal
Twitter

If you’re interested in learning how to use your legal skills to move into other industries of work, then you’re going to get a lot out of our conversation with Zac Bingham. Zac is a lawyer turned startup manager and business development consultant. Having worked as a corporate and commercial solicitor with Russell McVeagh, and then spending time with White Case Legal, Zac went on to help create Automio, a burgeoning legal tech startup based in New Zealand.

To view the juxtaposition of new and old legal careers, Zac is an excellent person to speak with. We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, and carefully teased out some of Zac’s biggest lessons and epiphanies throughout his career. We spoke about his early days as a lawyer, his motivation to change things up, transferrable skills and what the state of legal automation looks like now.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE TO HEAR ALL THIS, PLUS TOPICS LIKE:

• How Automio provides users with their own cloud-based lawyer bot
• Why Zac gravitated toward corporate commercial work early in his career
• The pros and cons of working in a big international law firm
• What motivated Zac to step out of practice altogether
• What differentiates people on the partner track versus those who aren’t
• How a childhood friendship sparked Zac’s current business
• What legal documentation automation looks like in practice
• Zac’s adjustment from solicitor to business development manager
• What lawyers can do to hedge against the risk of becoming less relevant

 

Links

LinkedIn
Medium
Automio

Check out this episode of the Beyond Billables podcast to hear a first-hand account about how you can use your passions to improve your working life. Our guest is David Field. David is currently the chief counsel at Canon Australia, a seasoned solicitor and one of the forces behind the artistic project, Lifetimes in Law. Previously, David was the operational general counsel at Telstra, and he currently sits on the board of the Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation. And if all this wasn’t enough, he speaks fluent Mandarin.

In our conversation, we talked about David’s journey in the law and what initially motivated him to take this path. Along the way, we also touched on how being a lawyer can consume your life, what technological advancements mean for the legal industry and how David has used his creative passion to counterbalance his professional life.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE TO HEAR ALL THIS, PLUS TOPICS LIKE:

• How the human element factors into the context of legal tech
• Methods that lawyers can use to develop judgment more quickly
• What drove David’s desire to move in-house
• Tristan Jepson, and asking the hard questions of legal culture
• How legal service bundles are being unraveled and streamlined
• AI developments and how the legal profession should respond
• The value in developing ‘soft’ skills
• David’s passion for photography and how it’s helped him with balance
• How law firms can improve their approach with new lawyers

 

Links

LinkedIn
Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation
Lifetimes in Law

Interested to hear how one lawyer navigated to their ideal job? Keen to listen to a story about having a family without sacrificing your career? Today’s episode of The Beyond Billables Podcast delivers both of these things, plus much more. On the show, we were lucky enough to sit down with Meaghan Lewis. Meaghan is the Sydney-based general counsel for The Law Society of NSW.

In our conversation, we talked about Meaghan’s journey from being a solicitor with Chapman Tripp to working in London to motherhood to shifting gears and ultimately joining The Law Society. Along the way, we touched on changing jurisdictions, the challenges surrounding being a mum and a lawyer, gratitude and finding a role that suits your needs in life.

Listen to the full episode to hear all this, plus topics like:

• How Australian/Kiwi lawyers going to the UK is generally a mutually beneficial dynamic
• The pros and cons of corporate mergers & acquisitions work
• Meaghan’s transformative experience on maternity leave
• How different positions can allow you to shape law practice to meet your own needs
• The value of not rushing into decisions
• How a law society functions in day-to-day
• The costs associated with the ‘typical’ attorney mindset
• The life lessons of working abroad and in new jurisdictions
• Meaghan’s advice to herself coming out of law school

 

Links

LinkedIn
Being Well in The Law
The Law Society of NSW

Michael Fox is an ex-lawyer, Googler and entrepreneur who broke the mould, founded his own business and created a successful career. Michael is an old friend of ours and an extremely bright guy, so we were very excited to finally get him on the Beyond Billables podcast.

One of the founders of Shoes of Prey – a startup that allows you to design your own bespoke women’s fashion shoes – Michael is responsible for business operations. Prior to his entrepreneurial venture, Michael worked at Google managing the online sales and the operations team across Australia and New Zealand. In our wide-ranging conversation, we traced the trajectory of his career, touching on his motivations to become a lawyer, why he ultimately quit, the genesis of his startup and how he’s dealt with challenges along the way.   

Listen to the full episode to hear all this, plus things like:

• What Michael’s early side businesses taught him
• How Seth Godin inspired Michael and a few friends to start their own business
• How Google reacted to the global financial crisis
• Michael’s journey from lawyer to Google salesman to entrepreneur
• Why Shoes of Prey moved their headquarters to Los Angeles
• How being slightly naive in the retail business had unseen advantages
• How Michael has dealt with personal challenges along the way
• How a self-powered commute can be an incredible boost in happiness levels
• Michael’s advice to his younger self

 

Links

LinkedIn
CrunchBase
Shoes of Prey

Today’s episode of The Beyond Billables Podcast felt a bit like pulling back the curtain and looking into the future. On the show, we were lucky enough to sit down with Andrew Mellett. Andrew is the CEO of leading New Law firm Plexus Legal and one of the sharpest minds in terms of legaltech and artificial intelligence.

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The law is changing, and Plexus Legal is one of the firms really pushing the envelope. Andrew is actually not a lawyer, and perhaps this goes some way in explaining why he’s so comfortable breaking convention and thinking laterally.

In our conversation, we talked about the evolution of legal careers, how Plexus has leveraged technological tools, the improvement of legal management operating systems, artificial intelligence and the skills lawyers of the future will need to develop. The endpoint of all this being, create more value for clients and better careers for lawyers.

Listen to the full episode to hear all this plus topics like:

• The characteristics Plexus Legal looks for in their new hires
• The potential cost to having a fixed mindset
• Why Plexus Legal is betting the farm on technology
• The artificial intelligence hype-cycle currently underway in the legal industry
• Where people can go to educate themselves in terms of New Law and legal tech
• The most important skillsets for future lawyers
• The challenges and opportunities of competing in international markets (US, UK, etc.)
• How Andrew handles informational overload and tries to maintain balance
• The historical reason why there have been so many dissatisfied lawyers

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Links:

LinkedIn
Plexus Legal
Sydney Morning Herald
Work with Plexus Legal

Today’s episode is a doozy. In this installment of Beyond Billables, we touch on elements of fear, sexuality, gender identity, perseverance, resilience and challenging barriers through the stories and anecdotes of a lawyer who just happens to be transgender.

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Jasmine O’Brien is a Principal Lawyer at Sladen Legal. Prior to that role, Jasmine held positions as the Legal Practitioner Director with Australian Industry Group and a Senior Lawyer with Clayton Utz. Jasmine is a polished legal professional who, at the age of 29, decided to transition from male to female.

In our conversation, we traced Jasmine’s story from her origins to the challenges she faced in embracing her authentic self and ultimately finding happiness.

We had a long talk and touched on many other issues. For example:

• The pushback and questions Jasmine faced with clients around the transitioning process
• The state of transgender people’s position in society
• The scope and typical content of Jasmine’s legal practice
• The cost of having to self-censor in a professional context
• The ways that hardships force people to develop character and coping mechanisms
• Jasmine’s best advice for improving communication with people
• Why taking offense or being politically correct is often not necessary
• How you can buy loyalty through hard work and proving your value
• The challenges of dating for transgender men and women
• Jasmine’s experiences trying to help others and anti-discrimination work
• Why it’s too easy for employees to make unmeritorious claims

Sign up to BB Change today and receive free resources designed by those in the game to help you get from where you are to where you really want to be. Don’t know where that is? We’ll provide you with comprehensive guides and workbooks to help you figure it all out.

Sign up today and start living beyond your billables.

Links:

LinkedIn
Australian Transgender Support Association

Today’s episode is a doozy. In this installment of Beyond Billables, we touch on elements of fear, sexuality, gender identity, perseverance, resilience and challenging barriers through the stories and anecdotes of a lawyer who just happens to be transgender. Sign up … Read more Jasmine O’Brien on Being a Lawyer, Bravery and Finding Authenticity in Your Life

Meet Janelle Kerrisk. After establishing a successful career as a construction lawyer and partner with Holding Redlich, Janelle struck out on her own co-founding, and ultimately becoming the director, of Helix Legal. She left her comfort zone, rode the entrepreneurial roller coaster and came out the other side unscathed.

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The result is the formation of a new law firm that has done away with the billable hour, implemented innovative project management approaches and has a culture that values happiness (imagine that!). The thing that came through loud and clear in our conversation with Janelle is that this string of events has led her to be more excited and fulfilled in her career than ever before.

Janelle is also mother to twins, has dealt with caring for sick family members and sat on the board of the National Association of Women in Construction; so, she’s someone well-versed in the importance of finding a way to balance life and work. Our chat was inspiring and eye-opening from start to finish.

Other topics covered in this episode:

• Why the phrase ‘work-life balance’ is a false dichotomy
• How technological tools are shifting the workload within a law firm
• The genesis of Helix Legal
• Why being happy and working in the law are not mutually exclusive
• Janelle’s advice to her younger self
• The value of a co-working space with an open floor plan
• How social media has affected Helix Legal
• The way law firms value people internally is changing
• The biggest risk Janelle ever took

 

Sign up to BB Change today and receive free resources designed by those in the game to help you get from where you are to where you really want to be. Don’t know where that is? We’ll provide you with comprehensive guides and workbooks to help you figure it all out.

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Links

LinkedIn
Helix Legal
LawLancer|
Twitter

Interested in hearing a bit of law industry heresy? Enjoy subversive opinions? Want to hear the story of how one lawyer broke out of the traditional model and found happiness? If you answered yes to any of the above, you won’t want to miss the latest episode of The Beyond Billables Podcast.

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In this episode, we sat down with Michael Bradley, the managing partner and head of the competition and consumer law team at Marque Lawyers, a boutique law firm in Sydney. Michael recounted his story of moving up through the ranks of a big, traditional law firm and how miserable it made him. Ultimately, Michael broke out on his own, founding Marque Law with the intent to find a better way to practise law.

In our chat, we got pretty deep in terms of the philosophy of money, business models, the legal landscape, altruistic endeavours and how Michael has found his place.

Listen to the full episode to hear all this, plus things like:

• How working in a traditional law firm can make you appreciate one with an alternative approach
• Why humour is such an important element of Marque Law
• Why the legal industry is changing, but at a slower rate than most other industries
• The challenges of running a business that takes into account more than just the bottom line
• Why the traditional path out of law school/partnership track is shrinking quickly
• The fatal flaw in the legal business model, and how it needs to change
• The costs involved with compartmentalising your values
• How shifting your focus to more than just profit can lead to a happier life
• Conscious capitalism and the coming gay rights vote in Australia

 

Sign up to BB Change today and receive free resources designed by those in the game to help you get from where you are to where you really want to be. Don’t know where that is? We’ll provide you with comprehensive guides and workbooks to help you figure it all out.

Sign up today and start living beyond your billables.

Links

LinkedIn
Conscious Capitalism Australia
Marque Law 
Twitter