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Finding and maintaining friendships as a lawyer
In the competitive world of legal practice, fostering friendships among peers may seem, to some, counterintuitive to maintaining a professional demeanour. However, Jennie Siow offers a compelling perspective on why cultivating friendship within the legal community is essential.
Grace Robbie
Speaking on a recent episode of The Protégé Podcast, Jennie Siow, a corporate solicitor at Baybridge and the founder of The Legal Mixer, underscored the importance of lawyers establishing relationships with their peers due to the significant benefits these connections can provide. She also offered insights into effective ways for lawyers to cultivate relationships within the legal profession.
Siow revealed that numerous professionals maintain a distinct boundary between their personal and professional lives, noting that many individuals conscientiously refrain from forming workplace friendships to uphold their reputation and sustain focus.
“A lot of people draw the line in having friends at work because they believe that professional relationships and personal relationships should be different, and there should be a line there,” she said.
She also observed that many legal professionals maintain a professional facade to uphold their prestigious reputation within the industry’s competitive landscape.
“Naturally, a lot of legal professionals, including a lot of office workers, are more inclined to set a professional facade when they come to the office. And this is because it’s just for their professional reputation,” she said.
However, Siow challenges this notion by asserting that fostering authentic and meaningful relationships among legal practitioners is integral not only for personal fulfilment but also for professional success.
“I believe that having good, authentic relationships in the profession is really important because personally, you feel very fulfilled that you’re in this role,” she said.
She also underscored the physiological benefits of cultivating a supportive network within the profession, highlighting that these relationships enable lawyers to find fulfilment in their careers by offering avenues for seeking advice and discussing career-related matters.
“You feel fulfilled that this profession, yourself as a lawyer, feel that you have a supportive network, and if you ever need someone to speak to about something that’s happening in your career, your workplace, or even the area of law, you have someone to consult to,” she said.
“I think this is really important because it really comes down to our wellbeing and how we feel satisfied in this career and our choice of coming into the legal profession.”
Siow advises fellow legal professionals seeking to cultivate meaningful relationships within the legal community to participate actively in networking events. These gatherings offer invaluable opportunities to connect with peers who share similar professional interests and goals.
To strengthen these connections further, Siow recommends not only exchanging LinkedIn connections during networking events but also taking the initiative to invite colleagues for face-to-face interactions.
“What I highly recommend lawyers and other practitioners to do is that once you go to these networking events, get the LinkedIn connection request just like everyone else, but take the extra step to ask them, ‘Hey, do you want to go out for coffee?’ ‘Do you want to go out for lunch?’ ‘I work in the city, or I work in Parramatta. I see you work close to my office, would you like to grab food?’” she said.
She reflected on how she has applied these skills during networking events, emphasising that her proactive approach has resulted in numerous meaningful connections and friendships that she deeply treasures.
“I personally did that for a lot of my networking events that I attended, and I’ve met a lot of people there and a lot of people that I am proud to say they’re my friends,” she said.
