Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network

In this special episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, produced in partnership with Leo Cussen Centre for Law, we explore the rapidly evolving professional services landscape and how today's students, grads and juniors can bolster their arsenals to succeed in the future. Host Jerome Doraisamy is joined by Flinders Law School dean Tania Leiman and Leo Cussen Mentor and Justice Lab convenor, Bianca Paterson to discuss the importance of new skills in the post-pandemic market, the headline trends for emerging practitioners to be on top of, the place of tech and innovation in the legal profession, using one's legal qualifications in a diverse range of vocational avenues, and what education institutions like Leo Cussen are doing to ensure tomorrow's lawyers are fit for purpose.

The trio also discuss empowering emerging practitioners to craft their own career pathways, needed mindset shifts, the myriad challenges that younger professionals are currently grappling with (including the cost of living), what it means to thrive in the modern world, what those coming through the ranks can be demanding from education providers, and what the next generation has to look forward to.

To learn more about Leo Cussen, click here. To learn more about Leo Cussen's collaboration with Flinders University, click here. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

Coming into 2024, award-nominated GC Teresa Allan is motivated to ensure optimal levels of resilience and connection across her law department. Doing so, she submits, will put the team in the best possible position to succeed in the current climate. In this episode of The Corporate Counsel Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Capgemini vice-president, general counsel and ethics and compliance officer Teresa Allan about the importance of exploring how to set up one's law department to succeed in the new year, various personal setbacks she experienced in 2023, the lessons she learnt from trying times, why having transparent conversations with one's team is as important as ever, and the need for resilience and reconnection. Ms Allan also delves into the holistic hurdles that might be getting in the way of optimal resilience and positive reconnection within one's law department, how to navigate sustainability issues and balance team management against constant firefighting, segmenting team members to undertake proactive or reactive tasks, tackling the projects that a department can reasonably manage, what her definition for success in 2024 is, and what motivates her to achieve it. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) recent decision to hold the cash rate at 4.35 per cent will have significant implications for investors.

In this episode of The Smart Property Investment Show, host Phil Tarrant chats with Finni Mortgages CEO Paul Glossop about why the RBA's latest interest rate decision comes at a turning point in the nation's financial landscape.

The duo discuss how lowering inflation and stabilising cash rates could lead to a "trust jail" for investors whose banks refuse to reprice in line with rate reductions.

The episode also reveals the far-reaching consequences of the current government policy, which may disincentivise investment in the long term. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

In this special episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, produced in partnership with Settify, we explore the circumstances that have led to an increase in family separations and inquiries to practitioners and how best those professionals can ensure optimal client service delivery moving forward. Host Jerome Doraisamy is joined by Settify global chief executive Paul Psaltis to discuss the seasonal nature of increased separations and subsequent inquiries and how the current climate is perpetuating such a spike, the implications for the market and practitioners alike, the existence of a "perfect storm" in this practice area (including more acrimonious separations), and the need to find new and more creative ways to engage as a practitioner. The pair also reflect on the questions that lawyers in this space should be asking of themselves and their practices, undergoing a mindset and practical shift in one's daily operations, overcoming key hurdles that impede business development, making necessary investments in one's practice, and the opportunities that can and will flow from the utilisation of the right technologies and platforms. To learn more about Settify, click here.

Next week, the Reserve Bank of Australia will make its first cash rate decision for the year. With inflation dropping, there is much that legal professionals looking to purchase property or expand their existing portfolios need to be across – particularly to avoid missing out.

In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Legal Home Loans director of sales Cullen Haynes and lending manager Rachael Massoud to discuss the current state of affairs in the market, how lawyers can interpret the recent lowering of inflation, the likelihood that the Reserve Bank will keep the cash rate as is to start the new year, and how lenders are reacting to next week's RBA decision.

The trio also discuss the incoming fixed-rate expiry cliff and how to ensure you are prepared, why getting pre-approval in place sooner rather than later will be critical for lawyers in the coming months, the serviceability factors that lawyers should be across, and the myriad benefits afforded to lawyers and legal businesses both through Legal Home Loans and when it comes to borrowing capacity (regardless of the size of one's property portfolio). If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

When engaging in a transformation project to optimise the law department's work, there are myriad lessons to be learnt to ensure that such a project is as successful as possible. In this episode of The Corporate Counsel Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with NCC Group head of legal (APAC) and head of data governance Elizabeth Duncan-Lee about working in a cyber security business and helping build a safer world, what it means to undertake a transformation project and what she and her team are currently working on, optimising daily operations, and the questions to be asked in getting started on such projects.

Ms Duncan-Lee also delves into the practical steps to be taken in the implementation of transformation projects, how best to carve out time for the law department's other duties (including firefighting) while undertaking a transformation project and striking the right balance between competing priorities, how often to evaluate a project's success and direction, knowing when the team can be confident in an outcome and how long to allow for a new approach to work, and lessons learnt from engaging in such transformative processes. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

In the current climate, utilisation of new technologies is not about "sprinkling magic AI dust" on one's existing practice – it's about identifying efficiencies for clients whose expectations and demands are shifting with the times and making one's firm fit for purpose, at a time in which competition is as fierce as ever. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy is joined by Stirling and Rose managing partner James Myint to discuss the value and meaning he derives from specialising in technology, having skin in the game in advising clients on tech advancements that his firm also looks at, the sister company his firm is launching, the need for smaller legal practices to invest in having multiple arms to the broader business, and how and why striving for efficiencies across the board is so essential for firms.

Mr Myint also delves into the headline takeaways and implications from the tech evolution in recent times for law firms big and small, how practice methodology is shifting or being reinforced in the current climate, what it means to be competitive and what a law firm can and should look like in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), why the duty to be efficient has to underpin a firm's response to all market challenges, and the questions that firms must be asking of themselves. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

Given its transient population and also environmental and cultural diversity, practising in the Northern Territory offers a vocational experience unlike most, if not all, Australian jurisdictions. There are also idiosyncratic challenges to navigate, meaning creative business approaches are key, with myriad lessons to be learnt for SME firm owners. In this episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with AFL Withnalls head of family law in Darwin, Vanessa Farmer, about why family law is a meaningful vocational pathway for her, life in the Northern Territory and why it's professionally rewarding but also challenging, and its unique environmental and idiosyncratic factors for Australian lawyers. Ms Farmer also reflects on her 25-year career in practice to date, the hurdles currently being faced for practitioners in the NT and implications for sole practitioners, thinking creatively to attract and retain staff now that she is part of a national entity, collaboration with like-minded practitioners, trends to look out for this year, adhering to strict parameters for one's working day, and the need for emerging leaders to both back themselves and pay attention to detail. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

A few months ago, the Federal Court found in favour of five former students of a Melbourne-based school who had alleged anti-Semitic bullying and harassment, with the quintet being awarded substantial damages by the state of Victoria. Here, one of the partners involved in the proceedings unpacks the case and its broader implications. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes Cornwalls partner Richard Hutchings to talk about the case of Kaplan v State of Victoria (No 8) [2023] FCA 1092, the headline takeaways and findings from the proceedings, how he and his firm came to be involved in the matter, the significance of an apology being delivered, and why the proceedings are so important in the current climate. Mr Hutchings also reflects on whether we may now see further such proceedings being brought across Australian jurisdictions, whether our laws are currently fit for purpose in navigating such discrimination issues, how and why law firms of all stripes should be more willing to take on these kinds of matters on a pro bono basis, lessons for such firms coming out of these proceedings, how his team navigated evolving court processes, and his interest in human rights law more broadly. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!

Law students – especially those unsure about what they want from their careers – should proactively seek as much diverse experience as they can. As Hayden McLoughlin has discovered from working in-house, one will be much better placed from having taken up such opportunities. In this episode of The Protégé Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with NIOA Group paralegal and QUT law student Hayden McLoughlin about being open to new ideas and pathways as one progresses while studying, how he "fell into" an in-house role as a student, whether in-house work is undersold to students as a vocational pathway, and what his duties look like in his current role.

Mr McLoughlin also reflects on the capacity for students to become better-rounded graduates if they engage in in-house work, the benefits he has gleaned, challenges he has faced and overcome, how undertaking a summer clerkship has complemented his in-house experience, why law students need to seek as broad a remit of experience as they can, questions one should ask of one's self, and why students must go out and seek value. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email [email protected] for more insights!