Collins was formerly chair of the board for four years and chair of partners for two years before that, as well as compensation law practice group leader for 13 years. She was awarded Australian Managing Partner of the Year by Lawyers Weekly in 2022, the same year Landers was awarded Diversity Law Firm of the Year at the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards.

Now, following a six-month transition period, Daniel Proietto, who currently leads the firm’s national workplace relations and safety practice, will commence as chief executive partner in January next year.

In conversation with Lawyers Weekly, Collins reflected on her four-decade-long career at the firm and described herself as a “reluctant leader”.

“I became practice group leader of our area simply because the partner ahead of me in seniority left, and so I was kind of next in line. And I did think, oh my God, what am I doing? This completely terrified me,” she said.

VIEW ALL

“And I had to really think deeply about what sort of leader I wanted to be, how I could manage, what would be the best way to do that.”

Those thoughts, Collins said, were partly tied to impostor syndrome, something she experienced during different stages of promotion and while growing into leadership roles.

“At those times [of promotion], women, in particular, fall for impostor syndrome. And we read a lot about that, but it can be really crippling. And it’s usually endured by women more than men. And I would suggest that people allow themselves to kind of grow in capability and confidence. You don’t need to know it all. You can seek out others to help you. That’s something that I’ve learnt, and that’s been significant in my career,” she said.

“I probably thought initially when you’re in a position of leadership that you need to know it all and you shouldn’t be seeking advice. It’s, in fact, the opposite. So, when I’ve faced a difficult issue, I actually deliberately actively sought out advice about that issue from others. And it’s so powerful and so refreshing.”

Collins also had mentors through her leadership journey who influenced what kind of leader she wanted to be – and how she wanted to lead Lander & Rogers.

“I’ve been really lucky from the beginning to have great mentors, and I encourage lawyers at all stages to actively seek them out because those early mentors and continuing mentors have a profound impact actually on professional development,” she added.

“They’re not always within the firm. They’re outside the firm. For me, some barristers, some wonderful early partners that I worked with, and they teach lots of important lessons, and the most important lesson, I think, is that they’ve demonstrated practising law can be both rewarding and fun, and that’s really impacted me, and I think it’s something that I feel like I’ve taken with me into the role of CEP and what sort of leader I want to be and how you can provide the best employee experience.”

In September 2023, Lander & Rogers achieved a gender-equal partnership ─ the result of targeted initiatives and policies introduced by Collins to progress more women into leadership roles, with a focus on developing talent, inclusive leadership, flexible work practices, and pay equity.

Collins has also driven Lander & Rogers’ innovation agenda – and said that legal tech and innovation has always been a “passion” of hers. So much so that when she first became CEP, she made innovation one of the three core values of the firm.

“The first thing we did was establish a dedicated innovations function. And we established our iHub to work with clients and for internal business efficiencies. And appointed a wonderful chief innovation officer who’s extremely talented. Then, we wanted exposure to the mindset of start-ups. So, in 2019, we launched a law tech hub, Australia’s first sponsored program for legal tech start-ups,” she said.

“We’ve just completed our seventh cohort, and this year, we established our AI lab. But we’re also running law tech clinics, undergraduate courses, law courses at universities – Monash, Melbourne, UTS in Sydney, and QUT in Brisbane – and getting clients involved in that.”

As such, the biggest opportunity in the legal profession right now, according to Collins, is to “continue to look at legal practice through a modern lens” – particularly in terms of client service delivery.

“It’s not just the services we provide, but it’s the way we provide them, from self-service training to tech selection, assistance for general counsel, automation of contracts, large-scale workflow projects and subscription-based platforms. And part of that, of course, is AI. You cannot ignore that there will be a significant increase in the use of AI.

“And I think the obligation of law firms is to ensure its ethical and regulated use, but we are very big promoters of AI within the firm. We’re one of two firms that have rolled out copilot enterprise-wide. We have guardrails on the use, but it’s something that we are very much looking forward to continuing to experiment with,” she said.

“With change, there’s always people who are more or less engaged. And it’s the same, I think, with clients. But clients are curious. They’re curious about it from two points of view, not just how it’s going to impact the legal work we do for them and how we provide our legal services. But also, for example, like our AI and innovation journey, clients are interested in that because they’re building that into their own business, and they want to know what we’re doing. So, it’s kind of a digital opportunity, I think, with clients to engage with them from a business perspective as well as that legal perspective.”

Unsurprisingly, the fast pace of change in relation to legal tech, innovation and AI is one of the key issues managing partners are likely to face moving forward – and Collins said that for her, specifically, periods when she had to “bring about change” were some of the most challenging as a leader.

“Leaders have an obligation to make things happen. And it’s natural for people to fear that. So how you can effectively bring about change and bring people along with you. And I think, and that can be really hard, and it can be really lonely, to be honest.

“But I think, I think what I’ve learnt about that is you have to be transparent, you have to communicate, you have to listen, you have to be prepared to continue to learn, ask good questions, and seek advice from others. But at the end of the day, you have to find your resolve and back yourself because you’re the one who’s had to drive it forward,” she said.

Looking ahead, Collins said she’s confident “Landers is well placed to take advantage of changes in the market” as Proietto prepares to step into the CEP role from 1 January 2025 and that she’s “seriously excited” for what’s next.

“We have a strong, diversified practice offering and really an exceptional team of people. And the future of the profession is something really fascinating,” she said.

And while she plans to continue her board work, Collins is now looking forward to some time off, travel, learning to horse ride and working her way through an Ottolenghi cookbook “from beginning to end”.