Women practitioners benefit from New Law approach Karin Derkley, Law Institute Victoria 27 April 2023

Allens’ head of legal management Liz Fernando said roles like her own legal project management role, as well as legal operations, innovation and design, and legal technology, were not even on the landscape when she started at the firm more than 20 years ago. “There's so much opportunity out there now,” she said.

Landers and Rogers national innovation manager, family and relationships, Kate Greenwood became interested in legal design after she realised her favourite part of the job was finding creative solutions for her family law clients. She put together a business case for running the team's national innovation portfolio, which was approved by management. “My role has evolved considerably since then,” she said.

At its heart, a New Law career has a desire to improve the delivery of legal service and look at new ways of working to solve legal problems, Ms Fernando said. “That covers a whole range of areas, which is so exciting.”

Free Range Lawyers CEO Katherine Thomas says what constitutes legal advice has become more fluid. “There's a lot more fluidity between the practice of law and the business of law, and a lot more exploring of different ways in which clients can consume legal services.”

That is having an impact on the existing power structures, she said. “One of the implications is that the status of these roles and the value of the skills that we can bring (to legal practices) will increase.”

Women may have an advantage in identifying ways of conducting legal services because they are not so entrenched in the traditional way law has been practised, and recognise when it does not work for clients and practitioners, the webinar heard.

“It could be that we can see the broken system more easily because it was built and designed by men for men,” Ms Fernando said. “And so we see those issues and we want to get in and fix them.”

The need to balance multiple needs, including family responsibilities, means women are already well-equipped to “spin a few plates”, Ms Greenwood said. “Women are naturally curious and excited about doing things efficiently. They have that fix-it mentality. And we're really good at supporting each other, so there are networks available to people.”

Women have had a more prominent place in the workplace at the same time that the market for legal services has changed, Ms Thomas points out.

“We've had an opportunity as women to shape a part of the legal profession from scratch in a way that works for us and resonates with us.”■>