Matthews also hints at what's next for her
Last week, DLA Piper Australia’s Amber Matthews and Shane Bilardi talked to Australasian Lawyer about the firm’s post-COVID strategy refresh and the culture cultivated at the firm. In this instalment of the interview, Matthews and Bilardi dish on what the leadership transition process will be like in the coming months, and what’s on the horizon for Matthews.
Amber Matthews: We’re already working very closely together, so I think it'll be a natural evolution. For now, we're working on longer-term projects – Shane is stepping into more of these because he'll be taking them into the future.
I'm very much still looking after the role on a day-to-day basis – February is the time that we're doing the transition because for us that's a really key moment in our cycle of preparing for next year's budget. So when we both come back from our holidays in January, that six-week period is going to see a more deliberate handover. We're sitting down with Shane, all of the other practice group heads, and all of our service directors across our key operational teams to make sure that Shane really knows and understands the full breadth of the business.
Shane will have an expectation about what the role will involve, but the reality will be probably somewhat different to that. Until you're there and in it, you don't really know what you don't know. In leadership roles, things come at you from left, right and centre.
But we’ll make the transition as smooth as possible. I will do my best to share as much of my knowledge of it as possible with Shane so that he's feeling as well equipped as he can be. And while I'm going to be taking a long service leave in March and April, I'll still be around for Shane if he needs me for anything.
Shane Bilardi: I think [Amber’s] captured it well. It's been a very natural and organic transition so far because I've continued doing my day-to-day transactional work and Amber's just brought me in at the right times to look at various matters that have a longer term impact.
That'll run through until Christmas, and I'm keen to take some time as Amber is with my family through January before really immersing myself further in the role. Amber's been doing the planning around a more structured transition phase through February, so that's a nice step-by-step transition that I think is going to work out really well.
And then on 1 March, we can finally give Amber a long service break that she deserves well after six years on the job. And I'll be in full swing from then on.
Amber Matthews: I'm in discussions with the firm about another role in Australia – possibly with an Asia remit – in connection with ESG. We’re really trying to look at how we are positioning ourselves in the market across the full spectrum of ESG issues. So I'm considering that at the moment, but I'm going to take a bit of time to work it out. I look forward to a bit of a break over December and January, and I’ll come to a decision on that around that time.
I guess what I'm looking to do is is use the skills that I've learnt in this role – it's a wonderful role in giving you a broad range of good business skills around how you manage financial performance, how you drive people's strategy, how you execute a range of different things. So I want to be able to do a role where I can employ some of those skills and have an impact and make some change.
Hopefully that could be with the firm, and if it's not with the firm, then I'll be looking for a role externally that really enables me to do that. I've been with DLA Piper for 25 years – I started as a summer clerk and I'm finishing now in this role as a managing partner. It may turn into something else as well, but I've had a wonderful career at the firm. I've just got to decide carefully on what my next move is.
Later this week, Matthews talks about being a homegrown star, and why working with a global law firm is a great experience for junior lawyers.
