What's your job about?
I work at wilson/ryan/grose Lawyers, which is a Townsville and Sunshine Coast-based law firm operating and providing advice and assistance in areas of law including residential and commercial property, building and construction, personal injuries, workplace relations, family and criminal law.
I am employed within the workplace relations workgroup of the firm, consisting of a partner, senior associate, personal assistant and myself.
Within the workplace relations workgroup we deal with a number of broad matters including employment disputes, contracts and agreements, WorkCover claims, unfair dismissals and general protection claims.
What's your background?
I grew up in Cairns, completing my primary schooling at St Andrew's Catholic College before moving to St Augustine’s College to complete high school.
After finishing high school in 2016, I decided to defer commencing my university studies and spent time away from Cairns, travelling and working in the sporting industry throughout Australia. I moved to Townsville in 2018 after having a year off and began a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce.
During the beginning of 2022, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to undertake a clinical legal studies subject at Townsville Community Law. This provided me with the opportunity to see a variety of legal issues ranging from criminal and property to family law including child custody matters.
During late 2022, I was offered a term of work experience with wilson/ryan/grose in the workplace relations workgroup and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This eventually led to an interview and in February 2023, I commenced employment as a Graduate Law Clerk with wilson/ryan/grose Lawyers. While working in my graduate role, I commenced my Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice with The College of Law and am seeking to be admitted in December 2023.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
I truly believe that working in legal practice is more about the time and effort that you are prepared to put in rather than your background. The nitty gritty skills such as legal research are skills that are generally developed during law school and outside of this it is up to the individual person to prove that they can display organisation, time management, communication and writing skills, all of which are vital to legal practice.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I find that the coolest part of my work is that we get to advise people on the law and potentially teach them about something they were not aware of or did not understand. In the majority of cases, I can be happy knowing that people walk away from a meeting, or phone call, having a better view of their circumstances than when they arrived.
What are the limitations of your job?
Although not always a limitation for some people, I think that working in the legal field comes with a high level of responsibility and pressure. The pressure and responsibility can vary from meeting time constraints for court matters to ensuring you have done your research on a matter before advising a client on their situation.
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