What advice would you give students who are unsure about which area of law they would like to practise in?

It is good to have an open mind and to be curious. There are some fascinating corners of the law and the profession has something for everyone. Be curious about the work you undertake and ask questions about how it fits into the bigger picture. Understand why you are completing that work, what is driving it and how it fits into a matter or a piece of litigation. When given opportunities, combined with an open mind and curiosity to learn, it will help draw out the areas that really speak to you.

What is one piece of advice you would give yourself back in university?

I probably should have been more strategic about career options when I was in university. I did not think I would necessarily practice law for my entire career. As a result, I did not think through all the different alternatives that were available to someone with a law degree. So podcasts, like the EncycLAWpedia podcast (or the equivalent that was available in the late 1990s), I should have probably explored a bit more at university. This would have assisted my understanding about in-house, government and non-government roles and the breadth of opportunities that are available.

How do you maintain a work-life balance?

I work part-time (three days a week) and I am very open in saying that there are other things in my life that I have committed my time to that are just as important as my work. I think being open about my time commitments allows me to manage my workload pretty well. It is not failsafe, but it allows me to have conversations with colleagues and clients about when work is going to be done and what is realistic, rather than pretending I can get everything done when the hours of the day are simply not there. I have also found being an open book about my time commitments helpful.

Being part of a team is also important, as you cannot do everything all by yourself. Working in a team where I have good relationships with other people, really helps ensure I keep a good work-life balance.

“I think being open about my time commitments allows me to manage my workload pretty well.”

Could you share with us what your typical day as a Special Counsel in an Environment and Planning practice area looks like?

There is no such thing as a typical day in Environment and Planning, it is so varied. I think that’s what keeps the job so interesting.

Matters in recent weeks that have come across my desk have involved aboriginal and cultural heritage management plans, permits for European heritage, licencing for all sorts of different sectors, such as, intensive animal agriculture and tenure for beekeeping on public lands. I have also been looking at wind farms and environmental compliance, remediation strategies for industrial sites, advice on urban planning requirements in major cities and on energy reporting for big corporations and how they might incorporate energy reporting into their supplier contracts. I have some matters which are in VCAT at the moment and also matters which will never see a court or tribunal.

Every day is different and there are patches where you will have hearings and your day is quite structured and then other days where you’re working on a deal. For example, where the Mergers and Acquisitions team has called you and you need to turn some environmental advice around quite quickly. So, the only thing I can say as to what is a typical day in Environment and Planning, is that there isn’t one!

What made you realise that Environment and Planning was the main area of law you wished to practise in? Is it an area of practice that you were interested in early on in your career?

Environment and planning was the only reason I got into law. My first interest was Environmental Studies. I was at Monash University completing my Arts degree (majoring in Geography and Environmental Science) combined with a Bachelor of Laws. As I progressed through university, I thought about different career options and considered what I might be interested in and I thought I would try law, but only if I could do planning and environmental law.

I was someone who came into practice with a narrow focus about what I wanted to do and fortunately that has turned out to be satisfactory and I have enjoyed it. Environment and planning was something that I narrowed in on quite early. I backed my choices and it paid off! I obviously rotated through some other areas as a graduate and could have been diverted along the way, but I wasn’t.

“Environment and planning was something that I narrowed in on quite early. I backed my choices and it paid off!”

What is the most rewarding part of your job, or the most exciting matter you have worked on?

Sometimes in practising law you get these legal puzzles that are really satisfying to solve. This often comes with planning law. It can be quite technical and I quite enjoy working out a solution to a problem.

Another aspect I find satisfying is that planning and environmental law is a really tangible area of law by and large. I really like understanding what I am working on, whether it is finding out about a particular wind farm site, a building on Collins Street or reducing energy consumption at a particular facility. This makes a lot of sense to me when elements of my work are so tangible. I also find it really rewarding because you are learning about the environments you live in constantly. I have also found that you then see those things for the rest of your life. For example, you work on a particular type of building and then you will forever see that type of building wherever you go. If you work on wind farms, you can’t drive past a wind farm without observing certain things about it. I have also worked on a lot of Telco cases and I will now see Telco facilities everywhere. I find that so enriching understanding about how the world works around you.

I have had the opportunity to work on a few ‘glamour’ cases which have been fun. For a few years, I was working in our Sydney office and I worked on the Rose Bay and Point Piper marina re-developments which involved a lot of views of Sydney harbour and beautiful boats. Of course, there were substantive issues, like ensuring the seagrass wasn’t impacted but that was quite glamorous and fun.

Also, in Sydney, I remember one day we had an onsite Land and Environment Court hearing with regard to a planning matter which involved view loss issues over Sydney harbour. On the day of the hearing there was an epic dust storm. The Commissioner and everyone had arrived to do an onsite hearing to assess the extent of the view loss and no one could see anything! So that was quite entertaining.

Recently, I had an interesting matter which involved more of a strategic level hearing on what heritage controls should be applied to over a certain part of Melbourne. This involved ascertaining what sort of buildings were in that part of Melbourne and understanding their heritage value.

“I find it really rewarding because you are learning about the environments you live in constantly.”

What is the most difficult part of your job as an Environment and Planning lawyer?

Environment and Planning is a specialist area of the law. In a firm like King & Wood Mallesons, it is a small practice group but it is also incredibly diverse. This means that there is a pressure to be across and familiar with everything, from heritage to water to the latest developments in the law. For example, the new amendments to the Victorian Environment Protection Act 2017. The area is constantly changing and developing, so I think keeping up with all the new developments is possibly the most challenging aspect about this area.

Do you have any thoughts on how Environment and Planning law may develop in the future? Are there any major developments within the industry that may impact your future work as an Environment and Planning lawyer?

I just see it getting more thorough and complex as a growing practice area. As regulation grows and regulators are given more powers to enforce laws, then I think the clients' need for advice will grow. An example of this is the Environment Protection Act reforms in Victoria which commenced in July 2021. For the first time we will see a lot of administrative reviews of EPA decisions going to VCAT which has not happened before.

I think more broadly in recent years, there is a lot more advice around corporate governance around environmental issues. Whether that is energy reporting or environmental compliance more generally, I think Boards are increasingly interested in environmental compliance as something they need to have considered. This area will continue to be a big source of legal advice.