Login
‘Sometimes you will be wrong’: Magistrate on managing impostor syndrome
After a false start into law and ongoing experiences with impostor syndrome, a Victorian magistrate has learnt to manage his wellbeing by accepting it is “perfectly normal” to sometimes be wrong.
Naomi Neilson
At the 2024 Minds Count Lecture, Magistrate Andrew Sim shared he has experienced impostor syndrome throughout his career, including as he sat on the panel with Victoria’s County Court Judge Frank Gucciardo and Supreme Court Justice Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou.
Sim, who admitted he felt “completely out of place”, said he had felt bouts of impostor syndrome at law school – which led to a semester off – and in his work at the Attorney-General’s Department, at Legal Aid, and with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
For instance, at Legal Aid, Sim not only felt he had to have the answers for his colleagues, but it was his first time in defence work.
“Going into a busy remand court in the city, going down to the cells, taking instructions, running a bail application or two or three on the same day, you’re feeling like an impostor,” Sim said.
“Going to the bar, you’re feeling like an impostor because you’re with colleagues who are all lovely and wonderful, but they’ve got masters from Cambridge and Columbia, and you don’t have any of those things, so you’re thinking ‘I’m not up to their level’.
“But of course you are; it’s just a different type of experience.”
Sim said he started to think of his impostor syndrome like a Venn diagram. In one circle, there are his abilities, skill sets and experiences, the second has his perceptions of himself, and the third includes the perceptions others have had of him.
“Those circles are often moving, but there’s usually some overlap of the three at some point in time. Even now, as a magistrate, I often think I am out of my depth doing X, Y or Z, but sometimes, it’s important to remember that none of us know everything,” he said.
Sim said it is part of the practice of law and his role as a judicial officer to accept that “sometimes you will be wrong”, but that this is perfectly normal – and, in his case, there are developed, sophisticated systems in place to respond.
He added it is also important to accept that going above and beyond for a job or a task cannot always be achievable.
“For all of us, whether we’re judicial officers, barristers, solicitors or law students, it’s helpful to remember that while we aspire to do 110 per cent, we aspire to do 100 per cent, but often there’s just not enough time in the day to do that,” Sim said.
“It’s about knowing the balance and looking after yourself because you may be working until the early hours of the morning or working more hours than you would like to, but you might not be working as effectively [as] if you are getting a good night’s sleep and waking up in the morning fresh-headed and able to discharge your role properly.”
On the panel, Judge Gucciardo said the best advice he had ever received was to learn to be a “well-rounded person, to travel, to speak to as many different people as you can, to be curious about people, and to learn to tell stories and care about clients”.
Justice Ierodiaconou added she had taken advice from a psychologist, who suggested people can either have a growth mindset and embrace learning or “box ourselves in and think of ourselves as having a fixed set of abilities and intelligence and just try to perfect that area”.
“That means we’re looking at validation rather than growth, so when I am stretching myself, I often think, I know this is good for me, and that has helped,” Justice Ierodiaconou said.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
