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Not for ourselves alone
Kara Cook does not shy away from difficult cases — in fact, she spends her days working closely with disadvantaged women and children who are threatened by domestic violence.
Working as principal solicitor at the Women’s Legal Service Queensland (WLS) is as challenging as it is rewarding. And it is the tremendous courage shown by her clients that motivates Kara in her role.
“My clients are what drive me each day,” she says. “The women who I assist show great strength and resilience in challenging and – quite frankly – often dangerous circumstances.”
Kara volunteered with the WLS for a number of years before taking on the top job.
“I loved the reward I felt each time I left the service, having assisted women who sought legal advice. I wanted to feel that sense of reward and satisfaction every day — now, I do,” she says.
Kara may have just won the Australian Young Lawyer of the Year award for her service to the profession and to the community, but she cannot shake the feeling that she is not doing enough.
“The greatest challenge of my work is the volume of women requiring assistance and our limited ability to meet that need,” she explains.
“We assist over 3,200 women annually, but cannot assist another 16,000 who try to contact our service. Unmet legal need for disadvantaged members of our community nationally is a major issue.”
Kara says she would with no hesitation recommend the community legal sector to young lawyers as a “wonderful, supportive and cohesive environment … where their desire to assist those most in need can be fostered and developed”.
“I hear far too many stories of young lawyers becoming disillusioned and leaving legal practice when they do not feel rewarded, supported or motivated by their working environments,” she says.
Using professional skills to help those most in need is a good way of ensuring legal work remains meaningful, she adds.
Bringing a big heart to the big city
Kara hails from a small coastal town in Queensland and attributes her strong social conscience to her regional roots.
“I grew up in Yeppoon, a small town in central Queensland. Growing up in a small town there was a definite sense of community. I think this shaped my commitment to helping others and addressing access to justice issues within society,” she says.
Kara has always been concerned with social justice and was drawn to the law as a way to help people.
Her studies led her to Griffith University on the Gold Coast where she undertook a double degree in law and business (management).
However, it was her work with the Gold Coast Domestic Violence Prevention Centre and her position on the Women’s Refuge Management Committee that started her down her particular career path.
After graduating, she worked for a year as an associate to a judge of the District Court on the Gold Coast, Clive Wall. She was admitted in 2009.
Kara was drawn to the WLS and eventually took on the role of principal solicitor in 2013, having worked for a number of years in private practice.
In her current role, Kara is responsible for overseeing all the work undertaken by the solicitors employed at the service, as well as the advice provided by 100 volunteer lawyers.
She also lends a hand as a domestic violence duty lawyer each week, assisting women who present to the local magistrates court seeking domestic violence orders.
In addition to her day job, Kara has been a council member for Queensland Law Society since 2014, helping shape the legal profession and support fellow practitioners.
In the past year, Kara has been recognised as one of the 50 Best and Brightest in Queensland and despite winning her Australian Young Lawyer of the Year award, she says her greatest achievement “would have to be the birth of my daughter, Eden”.
