How did you get into practising criminal defence law?

During university, I was very involved with outdoor education. In fact, I worked in that field  for a while, taking groups of kids hiking, rock-climbing and skiing. In that community, I would often talk about my interests in human rights advocacy and wanting to stick up for people. Through those friends I had met a lawyer who did a lot of work in the Northern Territory. I bumped into him at a fundraising function one evening soon after I had completed my law degree and he said he was running a rape trial funded by Aboriginal Legal Aid the next day in Alice Springs. He asked if I would like to come up and instruct him in the trial as he would not have an instructor. I had a total of $850 in my bank account and used almost all of it to purchase my plane ticket to Alice Springs the following day. This turned out to be a very good decision! As soon as I went up there to the NT, I saw first-hand the injustices that the indigenous people faced on a daily basis. That brought everything into sharp focus for me. It literally hit me in the face that criminal defence and human rights advocacy go hand in hand. From there I was  referred to a whole lot of contacts within the criminal law sphere in Melbourne  and it just became very clear that that was the place for me and luckily I was able to get a job eventually with a specialist criminal law firm in Footscray which I loved.

What does a day in your life as a criminal lawyer look like?

I’m in a supervisory role and I have a specialist caseload, so an ordinary will involve:

1. supervising other lawyers and addressing their concerns;

2. responding to emails and liaising with clients, other lawyers and barristers;

3. 1-2 appointments with clients;

4. drafting documents or going through supporting materials for cases;

5. reading case material that has been sent to me; and

6. making a court appearance as Counsel, running a committal hearing, or doing an appeal or county court plea. 

“One thing about criminal law is that a lot of it is pretty interesting. There are stacks and stacks of interesting cases.”

What is the most interesting project you have worked on?

One thing about criminal law is that a lot of it is pretty interesting. There are stacks and stacks of interesting cases. I had a recent case related to racehorse doping. Here, there was an intersection between criminal law and civil law. It was a very fascinating case because it dealt with various areas of law. It considered parts of regulatory and criminal conduct. The hearing also took place in a racing tribunal, which I realised did not have the same evidentiary and procedural protections as observed in courts. It ended up being a huge case with a lot of colourful characters in an area that was completely foreign to me. That was pretty interesting, but perhaps not easily accessible to other people.

What prompted you to start your own employment law and civil litigation practice in 2009?

There were a couple of motivators behind my decision. I really wanted to be the boss of my own work and not work to someone else’s timetable, because I had young children and flexible working hours was not standard practice back then as it is now. The other reason was that because I’d just come out of a big criminal practice, I was aware that there was a significant legal need in the crossover area. That is, matters that have both a criminal and civil flavour and involve civil litigation, employment law, regulatory matters and licensing. A lot of mainstream law firms don’t want to touch these matters, because they don’t want to deal with the criminal aspect. On the other hand, criminal lawyers don’t want to touch them, because they’ve become very specialised in criminal law and their insurance will only cover them for criminal law. Consequently, I noticed that it was hard to refer individuals needing representation in this crossover area and saw an opening to engage in this particular field of work.

How do you manage your work-life balance? In particular, how do you juggle being a mother and your responsibilities to both Stary Norton Halphen and Spicer Lawyers?

At one stage, when I was running Spicer Lawyers, I had 4 lawyers and we really had a heavy caseload. That part of it was great and I really loved that. I had a very good team, but I was finding that the business administration aspect was becoming more and more time-consuming.

In 2016, I made the strategic decision to merge Spicer Lawyers with Stary Norton Halphen and work with them on the basis that my primary role was as a mentor and supervisor. I also maintained some of the specialist work.  

A big reason for my decision was so that I could still have time for the family. My husband was working ridiculous amounts of time, so the bulk of the primary caring was coming from me. As my kids went into secondary school, I thought it was really important that I was available for them. When you have kids, your commitments change as they age. When they’re little, you can use childcare. Actually, when I was running Spicer Lawyers and my kids were very little, I used au pairs but then they got too big for au pairs. You just have to tailor your strategies to where your family’s at at any one time. I’m not going to suggest that I got that perfect. It was hard.

“Obtaining work in criminal law is a lot about timing...therefore, I think it’s really important for students not to be discouraged.”