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Sending the elevator back down for next-gen lawyers
Struggling to gain experience within a law firm herself, the founder of Australia’s first all-pink law firm discusses the significance of law firm owners offering opportunities to young lawyers eager to learn and grow in the legal profession.
Grace Robbie
Speaking on a recent episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, Nikolina Tully, the founder and legal practice director of personal injury law firm Tully Law, emphasised her commitment to providing training and opportunities for aspiring lawyers within her firm. Drawing from her challenges in obtaining such opportunities, she advocates for other law firms to similarly extend such prospects to foster and nurture the legal industry’s future.
Tully shared her deep passion and immense enthusiasm for facilitating such valuable opportunities for ambitious young lawyers who want to kickstart their own successful legal careers.
“I love training people and giving people the opportunity to do work experience to get them a foot in the doorway,” she said.
She expressed that her dedication to providing such opportunities stemmed from her challenges in obtaining a position within the industry, noting that her father’s unwavering efforts ultimately helped her secure her first job in the industry.
“I got my first job at a law firm when I was 17 years old. My father knew a man who was a family friend, and he was a partner in a law firm. He begged and begged for him to give his daughter a job in [the] law firm.
“He begged him enough to the point where he said, ‘Right, I’ll give your daughter a job, just stop annoying me,’” she said.
Correspondingly, Tully understands the challenges associated with entering the legal profession post-graduation without prior experience, expressing her determination to address this issue.
“I know how tough and difficult it is in this industry to get a full-time job after you’ve studied if you don’t have that experience. So, for me, part of running my law firm is making sure I give people opportunities,” she said.
The response to Tully’s comment has been nothing short of exceedingly positive. She noted that a recent job advertisement she published received over 80 applications, highlighting the high demand for entry-level opportunities in the field of law.
Tuly emphasised how much she enjoys providing such opportunities to young lawyers: “I love the fact that I can give people that opportunity, train them, give them that experience like a law student.”
Having gained experience in various law firms, Tully recognises the significant influence a firm’s size and structure can have on its capacity to provide specific opportunities within the organisation.
“I’ve worked in many law firms before, and every law firm runs their business differently; depending if it’s a smaller law firm or a large law firm, opportunities are very different depending on the law firm,” she said.
“I like to think that even though I’m a little, little slice in the big pie, that I still can, I guess, give opportunities to people in that sense.”
