As a legal secretary, Jennifer Doyle got to observe different areas of law
Jennifer Doyle started in the legal industry when she was a teenager.
As a legal secretary, she got to observe many areas of law, but it took “many years” before she finally dove into legal studies. Today, she is a seasoned personal injury lawyer who was recently elevated to partner at Hicksons.
In this interview, Doyle discusses the progression of women in the profession, being a mentor, and her love of the countryside.
What made you choose a career in law, and what's your favourite part of the job?
I left school at the end of Year 10, went to technical college, and commenced work as a legal secretary at 16 years old.
There wasn’t a burning desire to study law until later in my life. Having worked in the legal industry for many years, I finally realised I could achieve more and decided to study part time while I continued to work full time as legal secretary/personal assistant. Although I had experience as a legal secretary in many areas of law, I ended up falling into personal injury and have worked in this area of law ever since!
My favourite part of the job is working closely with my clients and assisting them in achieving excellent outcomes. I also enjoy being presented with different cases and challenges that help stretch my thinking, for example, navigating complex legislation and factual circumstances.
What is going on at the organisation? Are there any new programs and initiatives that you’re particularly interested in?
Day-to-day, Hicksons continues to work with clients to achieve excellent sustainable results. We are also involved in creating and executing various client initiatives, helping improve outcomes and meet changing expectations over time.
Hicksons also recently released a new “recognition and reward” program that will help drive excellence across our people and foster high performance alongside the firm’s new vision for 2024. This should be exciting!
What tech-related initiatives adopted by the organisation, if any, are you most excited about?
I’m not directly involved in any tech-related initiatives, but I know there is quite a lot happening across other practice areas in the firm!
What has been your proudest accomplishment in the last year or so?
My greatest accomplishment has been supporting my team’s growth and being part of Hicksons’ promotions over the last year. It’s even more rewarding to have previously worked with some of my current team members, including Emily Gorry and Samantha Wrigley, and have been able to support their career progression over time.
Also, having recently joined the Hicksons partnership, there is now a greater opportunity to help more lawyers develop and excel in their roles.
What should the profession focus more on?
I would like to see the legal industry continue to develop across areas of diversity and inclusion. It’s exciting to see lots of progress in this space across the profession. When I started, law was heavily male dominated, so it’s great to see more representation of women over time, particularly in leadership roles.
I think a greater focus on celebrating and embracing our differences as people, will promote fairness and ensure all voices are heard and supported.
What are the challenges you expect in your practice, and in the business of law in general, going forward? What challenges are particularly pressing in the country’s legal industry?
Like many other lawyers, it can also be a challenge maintaining work-life balance. As a manager in particular, you need to balance the responsibilities of supporting your team with your existing client work, especially when you have growing client expectations, a high volume of work and strict deadlines.
What are you looking forward to the most in the coming year?
I’m really looking forward to working with my team and being able to coach our junior lawyers. I’m also excited to continue working with other clients and build new relationships, and better understand what success means to them over time.
Outside of the legal industry, I’m also looking forward to a Swan’s Grand Final!
If you weren’t in law, what do you think you’d be doing as a career?
I’d say something related to human rights or humanitarian work because I personally enjoy working with others and helping to improve their current situations.
Otherwise, since I grew up on a farm and love being out in the country, it would be doing something on the land – it’s my goal to get back to the country sometime in the not-too-distant future.
