Ms Robinson had 12 years of executive experience before becoming a lawyer and working for MinterEllison – then left to set up her own firm two years ago with her business partner, Jessica Norris. 

“I think a big part of my success as a lawyer has actually come from that pre-law experience that I had, that I’d been on the other end of legal advice as a commercial operator, and so that commerciality, I guess, that young lawyers take a long time to develop, I sort of had that from day one. And so, I think that fast-tracked my career, which was a blessing,” she said. 

“Plus, I think starting law straight out of high school or university out of high school, I was lucky enough to have 10 years of quite fun, lively career, whereas being a lawyer can be a bit dry and so I don’t regret that I didn’t do it straight away. I feel like it was a great pathway for me.”

VIEW ALL

In terms of taking up law as a second career, Ms Robinson said she was better equipped, more mature and had more life experience, which ended up being a large benefit to her career. 

“You understand how the world works a little bit better than a 21-year-old does. But I started out as an environment and planning lawyer and thought that that was what I wanted to do, which didn’t leverage my commercial experience at all, really. 

“But within 12 months, the managing partner of the office that I worked in came and spoke to me and sort of wanted me to move into the commercial team. And it felt like coming home, almost. Just being back in that sort of commercial world, even with a legal hat on, it just all felt very familiar to me,” she explained. 

“I was able to interact with clients really easily and understand what they needed really quickly and just speak their language rather than being too much focused on the legal side, I was able to sort of almost translate that legal piece back to clients. I think that’s why I’ve circled back into directorships and leadership roles within organisations because it gives me the opportunity to give back and support an industry that I’m passionate about, but equally, it helps me exercise that commercial muscle in ways that hopefully benefit organisations like the organisations that I’m involved with.”

Whilst Ms Robinson admitted she has a problem saying no, all the extracurricular roles she currently holds are close to her heart – and give her life and legal role added meaning. 

“I don’t take the roles on lightly, and I don’t take them on just because it might look good on my CV. I think for me, it’s important that there’s something about the organisation where my skill can bring a lot of value to whatever is happening within the organisation at that point in time and both with Queensland Academy of Sport and Football Queensland, that was the case,” she said. 

“I have a problem with saying no, particularly on projects and roles where I know I can make a difference, and I’ve got an incredibly supportive business partner, and my two sons are also incredibly supportive, and so that enables me to do these roles that you don’t get paid for, but you have to show up, and you have to bring your best, and somehow you manage to juggle in.”

In turn, having those extra positions has enabled Ms Robinson to give back and better serve her community. 

“I think as lawyers, we do have an obligation to give back. We hold a privileged position, generally we’re paid well, and we have the ability to influence in areas where others might not, and I feel that perhaps even more than some with the roles that I hold and the people that I interact with on a daily basis, I often find myself in situations where I have the ability to influence and make real change that’s going to impact on lots and lots of people within our community and within society, and I carry that heavily and respectfully and try and do what I can when I can to make a difference,” she said. 

“And it’s not always pretty, my life is pretty messy and chaotic, and I don’t get to do anything I do as well as I could. Everything is a little bit of a compromise, and that’s hard when you’re a perfectionist as most lawyers are, but you learn to live with that because overall, you’re achieving good things at the end of the day, even if you wish sometimes, you could do things better.”

The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Paula Robinson, click below: