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In the midst of a global pandemic, young lawyer Simon Playford launched his own firm and proved that young voices are needed more than ever at the top of the profession.
In April this year, Mr Playford jumped from his associate role at Toowoomba-based firm Clifford Gouldson Lawyers to head of Bolter, its NewLaw firm focused on delivering multi-practice advice to start-ups. At just 27, Mr Playford hopes to see his new practice, and his new, untapped suite of clients, through the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And what better time to focus [on launching a start-up],” he said of his clients deciding on that risk themselves. “We were all in lockdown and some of them were stood down, so it was the perfect opportunity for them to think about their side businesses or on the ideas that they had. It’s certainly grown from that for a lot of our start-ups.”
As for being a young lawyer at the top of his game, Mr Playford said it has mostly been an advantage for attracting the clients that work best for Bolter. Businesses that have been around for a while tend to have a mature-aged leadership team and are inclined to prefer legal advice from older lawyers – but that’s not always so for start-ups.
Mr Playford said start-ups are coming through with younger leadership teams who can see their vision best carried out by a younger legal group that aligns with their branding and with the messages that their associates most want to convey with a new business.
“Particularly for start-ups, they have edgier vibes and more creative ideas. I think that’s where Bolter plays in quite well and where younger practitioners can really tap into the field, especially with the different modes of getting into contact with clients,” he said.
Generally, Mr Playford has not received any pushback from clients or peers due to his age and there is a strong sense of collegiality among younger lawyers. When asked if there was perhaps a sense of intimidation from older lawyers who are not quite in the same place in their own careers, Mr Playford said that running a law firm is not always a dream for all so “it’s really about perspective on what that success means”.
As for the law firm’s next few years, Mr Playford said he wants to move past the global pandemic and establish it as a positive place for clients where they can see their vision can be best supported. For longer-term, it’s getting through the next three years along with aiming to publish educational pieces and advice on the law for start-ups.
There is also the flexibility that comes with the name. Mr Playford said that while start-ups are its primary focus now, there is no attachment to one area in the future.
“It leaves the vision quote open to cascade into the future into much more than just its legal services, so I do like that aspect of it,” Mr Playford said, adding that he has really enjoyed the different parts of the business law that crops up from time to time.
On top of being a head of a law firm, Mr Playford is one of the 11 new members of the Queensland Law Society’s young lawyers committee, a proud member of the LGBTQI community and an independent chair with Headspace. With each of these spaces, he hopes to become a supportive and influential role model for other young lawyers.
At Headspace, that means promoting resilience as a key skill and showing importance of valuing mental health from a role model perspective. Mr Playford said it’s vital there is recognition of hard work and a push for managing time and expectations.
“You have also got the importance of figuring out what mental health is or what it might mean to someone to be healthy and what that means for that worker, whether it’s time in lieu or giving back to the community,” Mr Playford said. “The door is always open to ideas on how we can keep people mentally healthy.”
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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