As the son of Cypriot migrants, Middletons' managing partner Nick Nichola should probably never have turned out to be the self-con­fessed Aussie Rules tragic he is today.

After all, football holds an entirely dif­ferent meaning for those hailing from Europe, and kicking a ball with pointy ends is practically paramount to sacrilege.

"By virtue of my parents being migrants and not being interested in any way, shape or form in this silly game known as Australian Rules, I didn't often get taken to games," he says.

"But in 1963, Geelong won a pre­miership and from that moment on, I have spent the rest of my life following the Cats."

Perhaps it was destiny, but it seems that Nichola should never really have turned out to be a lawyer either.

"It is fair to say that I fell into law. I'd love to say that I had a burning ambition to be a lawyer from the time I was five, but that wasn't the case at all," he says.

"I really only got into law because my Dad was nagging me and asking me what I wanted to do and my best mate was going off to study law, so I decided I'd go along with him."

Once he got there, Nichola enjoyed his studies, though never really envisaged he'd end up pursuing law as a long-term career.

"I always wanted to be a primary school teacher. When I first left univer­sity [after completing my law degree] I always thought I would go back to do a teaching degree."

But the legal world had other ideas.

After graduation, Nichola completed his articles with a small suburban firm in Melbourne and, after a series of mergers, ended up with Middletons in 1998.

"I sort of just ended up here ... I just went along for the ride," he says.

By this stage, Nichola had worked his way up through the ranks to partner, and soon found himself heading-up Middletons' corporate and commercial practice group.

When the firm's external CEO resigned in 2005, Nichola was approached by the board to take up the newly created posi­tion of managing partner - a position he accepted despite having never previously considered it.

"I didn't ever really stop to think about whether I would go into man­agement because the firm didn't have that role available," he says.

"If I had wanted a role like that, I would have had to think about leaving the firm, and I have never had any thoughts of leaving."

But despite his rise to the top of the legal profession, Nichola is quick to downplay the significance of his position.

"All it means to be a managing part­ner is that you have many more bosses than you previously had," he laughs.

"We have about 60 partners at Mid­dletons, so it basically just means I now have 60 bosses."

Despite his modesty, it is obvious that Nichola holds a deep loyalty for the firm and is proud to be at its helm, particu­larly as the profession moves into what he sees as unchartered territory.

"For the first time ever - certainly in my career - we are going to see some significant changes in the legal landscape," he says.

"I think we are going to see some consolidations in the top tier and the mid tier, and the changes that are going to happen globally are not only going to be profound, but permanent."

Nichola believes the fallout from the global financial crisis, a growing interest in the Asian market, and the recent arrival of overseas firms such as Norton Rose and Allen & Overy have signalled an unprecedented shift in the market which, for many years, has stayed relatively unaltered, despite speculation of imminent change.

"For many years people have mused about whether there is going to be a seismic change in the industry and then they look back five years later and think nothing much has really changed and everyone is still doing the same thing," he says.

But like many in the industry, Nichola is convinced that this time round, things are different.

"We have fantastically trained, dedicated and hard-work­ing lawyers in this country and I think the UK firms in partic­ular are well aware of that," he says.

"It won't be long before the US firms cotton on to it as well, so I think this time we are going to see some definitive changes."

Nichola is conscious of his role in reacting and adapting to such change, and it is certainly a situation on which he is focused.

"It is interesting at the moment to be thinking about what the legal landscape will look like in five years time, and to look at what a firm like Middletons needs to do to remain relevant," he says.

While much of Nichola's time is occupied by pondering the future of the firm, its strategic market position, and striving for balance between the firm's internal and external growth, he still finds time for himself.

"I have always been pretty good at being able to switch off when I am away from the office. If I take some time off, I tend to forget my secretary's name," he laughs.

And since he gave up playing basketball because of injury (though he jokes that others inaccurately attribute his retirement to old age or blatant lack of ability), Nichola finds release and inspiration through watching Geelong matches with his two adult sons, or globe-trotting in a quest to cross exotic destina­tions off his bucket list.

"Last year I was lucky enough to go to Egypt, which was fan­tastic. It has taken me until now to get there, but it is just phe­nomenal," he says.

"So many places in Egypt just leave you in awe. You stand before the pyramids and you can't believe the enormity of the structures ... it just defies description. It is mind boggling. Put it on your bucket list. You won't regret it."

But in the end, Nichola always comes back to the job he loves and the people he loves to work for and with.