CANDIDACY STATEMENT
Dear Colleagues,
I would like to take this opportunity to let you know more about me, especially my background, career influences and my reasons for standing in this election.
In my last year of studies in a combined Law and Economics degree I found myself studying at the University of New South Wales with a particular interest in international affairs.
Also having a double degree gave me the dilemma of deciding whether I wanted to be a lawyer, accountant or economist. So my professional path so far has been a winding one.
After eighteen months in my first position after graduation at a merchant bank in Sydney crunching numbers as a credit analyst I was longing to finally do what I had for so long wanted to do – go abroad!
That was when I decided to go to Japan and work as an educator for three and a half years. Apart from learning both Japanese and Vietnamese, I came to learn about the Japanese business culture. For me it was one of the best decisions of my professional life.
This led me to study a Masters in International Administration at the SIT Graduate Institute in the United States where I developed my leadership and communication skills in the context of managing work groups made up of people from a diverse range of countries, cultures and genders.
It also led me to lead commercially oriented management seminars and delegations in New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia and other locations on the East Coast of the States about how to do business with the Japanese and other Asian cultures. My clients included international corporations such as General Electric, Proctor & Gamble and Rohm & Haas.
On my return to Sydney I spent a period working in an executive, training and outreach role at the Asia Pacific Research Institute at Macquarie University as the Asian economic bubble was on the rise. Apart from continuing my professional interest in international business it also enabled me to see how so many government agencies, such as Austrade and NSW State and Regional Development, were doing much to provide a positive environment to attract and grow business in order to help boost the economy.
When I then decided to re-enter the legal profession I was concerned to see that our profession was under siege by so much negative press. This appeared to provide an adverse environment for growing our legal practices. Especially as it was based on high level publicity about a few ‘bad apples’.
My thoughts were “why don’t we aim to do in the legal profession what happens elsewhere? Instead of tearing down practices with all this lawyer-bashing, let’s see what we can do to build our legal practices up – big and small – and thereby create more opportunities and business while not forgetting our traditional ethical obligations.”
Since then I have participated in a range of committees on lawyers organisations such as the Law Society of New South Wales, International Bar Association, City of Sydney Law Society, French Australian Lawyers Society and the Asian Australian Lawyers Society. While these committees are diverse in their aims, one of my main objectives has been to support policies and initiatives that promote sustainability and viability of legal practices in a way that is both ethical and inclusive.
In June this year I was therefore particularly pleased to read that the International Bar Association has published the IBA Report on the Social and Economic Impact of the Legal Profession. In fact, the IBA President, Ms Almudena Arpron de Mandevilo Aldama wrote in the June IBA’s e-newsletter: “lawyers have a significant positive impact on society, and the work of the more than 12 million lawyers across the globe impacts, directly of indirectly the lives, health and well-being of citizens all over the world.”
My career appointments in Sydney have included in-house roles at Deloitte and Woolworths and private solicitor roles at boutique firms Conway MacCallum (now Diamond Conway) and Gillard Consulting Lawyers. The diversity of these roles and firms have given me an insight into a variety of areas of the profession.
I now practice at Clarence Professional Chambers in the Sydney CBD along with a number of other co-located boutique firms. As a result a strong component of my practice sustainability work focusses on advocacy for Small and Medium Sized law firms, particularly at the City of Sydney Law Society.
However that in no way limits my vision. Although it’s not often talked about, I believe that there is much common ground between the interests of small and large law firms. Indeed many policy initiatives that benefit SME law firms apply to the whole profession (e.g. well-being of lawyers). In a similar way there is no reason why sensible policies around cultural and gender diversity can not be pursued at the same time as practice sustainability.
Having said this there is room for this area to be developed further by the Law Society and I believe that I am well positioned to be actively involved in this, and many other areas, if I am successful in being elected to Council.
There is much more that I could write about here, but I don’t want to go on too long. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me on the contact details below.
T: 8215 1550
E: phillip@pcrlaw.com.au
W: www.yourvoiceoncouncil.com