Principal
Grimshaw Legal
With a passion for assisting small business and individuals in minimising risk through a healthy understanding of their rights and duties, Grimshaw Legal was founded in April 2018 as a full service sole practise excluding criminal law, conveyancing and personal injury. Grimshaw Legal is in a tight network of boutique Melbourne practises meeting the legal needs of local clients at its client facing offices at Heidelberg, or at a location or by means that clients require.
Interestingly, Carol is a high school drop out whose last traditionally completed year of secondary education was Year 8. Along the way to law, Carol worked in facets of industry that would later assist in her work as a lawyer: information technology, banking, retail, hospitality, and accounting.
By 2002, Carol had learned on the job that she wanted more to do in law than just the typing. As the first person in her less than working class family to complete high school through mature age VCE a few years later, in 1993 Carol was shocked when she received an offer to attend La Trobe University to study for a Bachelor of Arts (Social Sciences). Moving into a Bachelor of Legal Studies in the next year cemented her interest in law and legal studies which she pursued while working largely full-time.
Working while studying was the ticket to a different life, and so between 1993 and 2017, Carol acquired a broad education in business, law, legal studies, politics and history, and by volunteering in the community legal sector.
Since April 2020, while running Grimshaw Legal, Carol has added passion projects and education to the role of principal of a boutique law practise. At each juncture of her career, Carol has been blessed with strong mentors and carries the significance of friendly, empassioned and ethical training into her leadership roles within the Australasian Cyber Law Institute and The Dear Sir(s) Project.
As Chair of the Electronic Wills and Online Witnessing Committee, Carol leads a stellar team of experts in wills, probate and online signing and witnessing. This complements her work as a non-executive Board member of the Australasian Cyber Law Institute, the parent organisation of EWOWC. ACLI and EWOWC envisage a future where procedurally rigorous use of technology in the provision of legal services will enhance access to justice for clients of diverse background and need.
Delighted to be selected for the Law Institute of Victoria's Technology and Information Section advisory panel to government over summer 2020-21,
Carol participated in the review, drafting and ultimate creation of permanent e-signing and e-witnessing legislation for Victoria in the fields of wills, powers of attorney, deeds, and solemn documents. She considers this to be one of her highest honours to date given the impact it has for each Victorian in their everyday lives.
Carol is also Founder of The Dear Sir(s) Project aimed at reducing inequality in the legal profession. With diverse interests and broad qualifications, Carol brings 25 years’ experience in and around the Melbourne legal profession – from top tier private services to quasi- and government roles – to her work today.
Carol considers herself fortunate to hold memberships with the Law Institute of Victoria, Australian Women Lawyers Association, Victorian Women Lawyers Inc, Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Victoria, Femeconomy and Ballarat Business Women, to name a few that also maintain an interest in improving access and equality to all across all communities.
