LSB September 2017

LEGAL PRACTICE
Developing in a small
firm versus a large firm
REBECCA CLAFTON, MINTER ELLISON & EVELYN JOHNS, ROSSI LEGAL
Rebecca Clafton and Evelyn Johns are
two young lawyers who have both
been practising for around five years and
therefore like to consider themselves out
of the “baby lawyer” phase. Both of them
have worked in large and smaller sized
firms but each started their career quite
differently.
Rebecca commenced her career at the
Southern Community Justice Centre and
then moved to a small firm, Ezra Legal,
practising in commercial litigation for
nearly three years. She then moved to the
Dispute Resolution team at Minter Ellison.
Evelyn on the other hand commenced
working at Fisher Jeffries in commercial
litigation, where she practised for around
five years before moving to Rossi Legal, a
smaller firm.
They compare the benefits of
commencing practice in smaller and large
firms:
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR FIRST JOB?
R: I started volunteering at the Southern
Community Justice Centre, assisting in
a wide variety of disputes including in
criminal, family and civil matters. When
an opportunity arose at Ezra Legal,
it gave me the chance to move into
commercial litigation, as I knew it was
the area that I wanted to grow in.
E: I was lucky enough to be able to obtain
a summer clerkship at Fisher Jeffries
in November/December, 2011. I
thoroughly enjoyed this clerkship and
tried to work hard during my four
weeks there. I was thankfully offered an
ongoing position from March, 2012.
WHAT WERE THE BENEFITS OF
STARTING OUT IN A SMALL/LARGE
FIRM?
R: When I started, the practitioners
around me were the principal and one
other established solicitor. The smaller
size of the firm meant getting thrown
in at the deep end in relation to several
aspects of practice, including client
24 THE BULLETIN September 2017
contact and management, contact with
both junior and senior counsel, liaising
with court staff, and attending hearings.
Whilst the thought of attending
hearings, in particular, was daunting to
me, I consider it was the best way to
get familiarity with court practice and
procedure, and the lessons learned will
always stay with me.
E: Having my start at Fisher Jeffries was
invaluable to me, as due to their size,
they have a lot of resources to train
junior lawyers, as well as distinct teams,
which meant you got a good one-onone
mentoring experience with your
partner. I was lucky that both partners
I worked for would spend a lot of
time teaching me new things and were
interested in my ongoing development.
Also, because Fisher Jeffries is a rather
large firm, there are a lot of other
junior lawyers there. I found this meant
there was a large support network of
people of your own age, which made
the transition from life as a university
student to working life that much
easier.
HOW DO YOU THINK THAT EXPERIENCE
HELPED YOU GROW AS A LAWYER?
R: The steep learning curve simply meant
taking more on and learning more
quickly. This “learning by doing”
method was useful for me and gave
me invaluable hands-on experience
very early on but with the comfort of
knowing that, being under supervision,
whilst I had a level of responsibility
that I needed to face up to, there was
always a principal standing behind me.
E: I think that due to the mentoring I
had from my partners and the training
I received, I now have quite good
attention to detail and analytical skills.
While at Fisher Jeffries I primarily
practised in one area of law, I found the
skills I learnt there to be transferable.
WHAT WERE THE DETRIMENTS ABOUT
STARTING OUT IN A SMALL/LARGE
FIRM?
R: There is always going to be less in the
way of resources at a small firm. When
a person is away or ill, sometimes
there is nothing else to do but step in
and make a call, or attend a hearing.
This can be daunting for a young
lawyer. There may also be less of an
opportunity to bounce ideas off other
people, and for mentoring relationships
to grow.
E: While I did get some different kinds
of matters at Fisher Jeffries, I primarily
practised in one area, so perhaps I did
not get as much exposure to different
kinds of matters as I would have at a
smaller firm. Many people might say
at a big firm you get less responsibility,
however, I was lucky in that I had a
small team of just three of us, so I
found I got a reasonable amount of
responsibility; for example, I was given
the opportunity to attend a mediation
alone with our client in the Supreme
Court of Western Australia, which was
an invaluable learning experience and
one I will always remember.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND CHALLENGING
IN MAKING YOUR RESPECTIVE
MOVES?
R: Having come from an environment
where I had rarely delegated tasks to
others, it was difficult to get used to
thinking about what could and should
be delegated to make things more
efficient, and how to go about doing
I consider it was the best way to get familiarity
with court practice and procedure, and the
lessons learned will always stay with me.