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Why I’ve started an equine law firm
Emily Purvis is passionate about two things: horse riding and practising law. Founding her own firm that navigates all areas of law pertaining to horses allows her to combine those passions.
Jerome Doraisamy
In conversation with Lawyers Weekly, PURE Equine Law founder and principal Emily Purvis (pictured) said that she has been “very fortunate” in her career to have received “world-class” training whilst working in the Perth, Melbourne, and Hong Kong offices of Herbert Smith Freehills — a vocational period that she “absolutely loved”.
“I thought about how I could combine my two passions — horse riding and practising law — and my practice was born!
“I began to research and ask my horse-riding connections about the types of legal issues they had encountered in the past,” she recalled.
“In many cases, written agreements were poorly drafted or had not been used at all, resulting in unjust outcomes or the prospect of expensive litigation. This was a great opportunity to assist an underserved market.”
The practice of equine law, Ms Purvis explained, includes all aspects of law relating to horses.
“I assist equine businesses, professionals and hobbyists with horse sale transactions, lease arrangements, and legal aspects of horse breeding, racing, agistment and training,” she said.
“One side of my practice is preparing the necessary contracts for equine related businesses such as agistment centres, training stables, riding schools and professional riders. The other side is giving legal advice in relation to disputes involving horses.
“A deep understanding of the industry and knowledge about horses is required to best help clients in this area.”
Looking ahead, Ms Purvis said that she is focused on providing legal education to the equestrian community.
“As more and more people are learning about the importance of adopting written contracts, demand in this area will continue to grow. I’ve developed an online store for individuals to purchase contracts for straightforward transactions at a cost-effective price, and I plan to continue to add new agreements to this platform in future,” she outlined.
“I’m also receiving a lot of positive feedback from the community and my clients about how they appreciate my less traditional approach — I have embraced digital marketing and am available to communicate with potential clients over platforms like Facebook, and I also do phone consults outside of traditional business hours.
“I think this really helps to break down barriers, and demonstrates my genuine care for the people and businesses I work for. I believe clients are increasingly expecting innovative ways of doing things, and appreciate an approachable lawyer.”
There will, of course, be challenges, Ms Purvis mused. Such hurdles used to worry her, she said, “but now I’ve learnt to roll with it and resolve them pragmatically”.
“A bigger picture challenge for me at the moment is trying to come up with innovative services to help people resolve disputes in a more cost-effective way, particularly for smaller disputes. I’ve developed a ‘self-representation advice’ service for a fixed fee where I give some preliminary advice and guidance around the minor case claims process,” she detailed.
“I’d like to develop something similar for matters $10,000 [to] $75,000. Perhaps the biggest issue for me personally is wanting to do everything in the business myself! I’ve self-taught and done my own SEO, digital marketing, bookkeeping, website development, etc.
“While I have really enjoyed that process and it was fine to spend time on those things when I was first getting started, I am now learning to outsource so I have more time for clients.”
Ultimately, Ms Purvis is excited to see how this practice area grows in Australia, and to discover the full potential of how many people and businesses she can assist.
“The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive and that’s been very encouraging and rewarding,” she noted.
“I feel fortunate to be able to practise in a way that is perhaps a little unconventional, but resonates with my clients. My goal is to continue to grow the practice and make modifications along the way in response to client/market feedback.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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