Tell us a bit about your education.
I grew up in a high-achieving household and was therefore quite academic throughout my schooling. This, combined with a love of reading (fiction mainly for those interested), saw me excel during primary and secondary school—particularly in relation to any task or subject that involved reading/writing. Noting my strengths in these areas, a career in business or law seemed like a potential fit (the TV show “SUITS” may or may not have also been released during this time).
However, following the completion of year 12, I remained somewhat undecided between these respective areas. Consequently, I initially undertook a Bachelor of Business Management at the University of Queensland. I found this degree to be somewhat rudimentary and, upon graduation, realized that in fact I wished to pursue a career in law (notably, this was a scary realization, given I had just spent three years completing a degree that was only somewhat related to the law). Thereafter I pursued and completed a Bachelor of Laws (Honors) at QUT, during which time I developed passions for the areas of intellectual property, commercial, and technology law.
How did you get to your current job position?
Upon the completion of my law degree, I immediately enrolled in Practical Legal Training (PLT) at QUT. As a part of QUT’s PLT program, students are required to undertake approximately 4 weeks of placement (work experience) at a relevant company/organization.
Fortunately, QUT has a placement coordinator who assists students in obtaining such placement. Noting that I was interested in Intellectual Property, the placement coordinator put me in touch with Mark Metzeling, who was, at the time, a Special Counsel within the Intellectual Property team at Macpherson Kelley Lawyers (MK).
Following an interview, Mark was kind enough to grant me the opportunity to partake in placement at MK. At the end of this period, I requested to continue to undertake work experience at MK on a part-time basis. Notably, at this time I had no contacts within the legal industry, nor any other substantial legal work experience. Consequently, I viewed the opportunity to continue to gain experience at MK as both necessary and invaluable.
After a few months in this work experience position, I was offered a job at a company which provided virtual case management and hearing services. I accepted this job on the understanding with Mark that at such time I was admitted as a lawyer, I would be eager to return to MK.
Approximately seven months later, I applied to MK’s graduate lawyer program and was accepted. Whilst undertaking the graduate program, Mark (who was now a Principal Lawyer), offered me a permanent position as lawyer within his Intellectual Property, Trade and Technology Team. I have remained within this position to date.
How did you choose your specialization?
I currently specialize in Intellectual Property, Commercial and Technology Law. I developed my primary interest in intellectual property and technology during my time at university. I found the university subjects related to these topics to be quite interesting, and this interest translated to improved academic results in these areas. Separately, my hobbies outside of work/education overlapped somewhat in these areas.
Insofar as I specialize in commercial law, I only developed a passion for this area after commencing work at MK and being exposed to the same (owing to the natural overlap between IP and Commercial Law). In this regard, my time spent completing a Bachelor of Business Management ended up proving to be quite beneficial.
Were you weighing up any other alternatives before choosing this specialization?
To an extent, yes. During my brief time completing MK’s graduate program, I found that I quite enjoyed Employment Law. The Principal Lawyer’s within MK’s Employment team were great to work for and noted that they would be interested in having me end up within their team. In the end, however, I felt MK’s Intellectual Property, Trade and Technology team was the right fit for me.
What was your interview process like?
Owing to my prior work experience at MK and the occurrence of Covid-19, my interview process was slightly different from the standard interview process at our firm. I was required to complete a virtual interview (which involved recording myself responding to questions on the spot) and thereafter attend a one-hour interview with both the Managing Partner and head of Human Resources within MK’s Brisbane office.
Traditionally, however, graduate’s seeking positions at our firm are additionally required to partake in a half-day practical interview. This practical interview is quite a fun exercise and enables applicants to showcase their time-management and client-management skills.
What kind of questions were you asked?
Regarding the formal interviews, the primary questions related to my background, interests and passions. Additionally, there were various questions surrounding why I wished to work at MK.
Suppose a student was considering your career. What would you advise them to study? Should they pursue any sort of work experience?
On a general level, I always advise students to follow their passions and strive to pursue a career that strikes the right balance between setting themselves up financially and achieving work-life balance.
For those specifically interested in a career in practicing intellectual property, commercial, and/or technology law, I would first advise them to enroll in as many IP and technology related legal subjects as are offered by their respective universities. Second, I would recommend for them to seek to get their foot in the door as early as possible (but not to worry if they do not manage to achieve this as early as they hope). Finally, I would advise them to read and investigate their area(s) of law as widely as possible (outside of formal university course-content).
What does your employer do?
My employer, MK, is a national full-service commercial firm. Essentially, this means that we act as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for businesses operating within Australia, possessing the ability to cater to all of their legal needs.
What are your areas of responsibility?
My areas of responsibility are relatively widespread within our legal practice area. Presently (and non-exhaustively) I deal with intellectual property strategy, enforcement and commercialization, commercial contract review and drafting and managing client-sided responses to government-body investigations.
Can you describe a typical workday?
One of the things I love about my practice area is that no two days or clients are ever the same. Matters I have worked on within the last few days include (non-exhaustively):
What sort of person succeeds in your career?
To succeed in this career, I believe you need to be both passionate (at least in part) about your practice area and willing to work hard. The ability to write well and think practically will each also prove highly beneficial.
Where could you or others in your position go from here?
There are a variety of career avenues stemming from the legal industry. A person in my position could look to end up in a private practice or in-house counsel position, they could look to follow a career at the Bar (litigation), or they could seek other forms of corporate/business/not-for-profit advisory or management roles.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Provided they obtain a law degree and are admitted to practice as a lawyer within Australia, certainly! It is often the case that varied backgrounds offer unique and valuable approaches to the practice of law. By way of a quick example, many Intellectual Property lawyers have backgrounds originating in science, biology, and/or software engineering. These backgrounds offer significant advantages in the fields of intellectual property and/or technology law.
What do you love the most about your job?
As nerdy as it sounds, my favorite part of my job relates to the satisfaction and sense of achievement I get from working through and solving the ‘puzzle-like’ element integral in all practice areas of law. By way of two examples:
Which kind of task do you enjoy the most?
I am not sure if I am able to list a singular ‘task’. As stated above, I generally enjoy any task which has that ‘puzzle-like’ element. Additionally, I very grateful for the fact that in our practice area, our client base is significantly varied. It presents great opportunities to learn about the inner workings of a variety of businesses.
What’s the biggest limitation of your job? Do you bear a lot of responsibility?
As alluded to prior, a career in law can be exceptionally demanding. Reasons as to why this is the case include:
Do you have to work on weekends?
Occasionally yes, although most of the time I try to ensure that my weekends are work-free. As someone who has struggled from burnout in the past, I place a lot of emphasis on ensuring that I use the weekend to unwind and recharge for the coming week.
Are the stress levels high?
At times, certainly. A great skill to foster is the ability to manage stress and not let it impact you (or reduce its impact upon you) mentally/physically. That being said, I can confirm that periods of exceptionally high stress are few and far between (at least in my experience).
What advice would you give to a current university student?