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How this firm owner is breaking traditional gender barriers
Having grown up seeing how traditional gender roles limit women’s potential, this law firm owner has made a conscious effort to not only accommodate flexible arrangements but also put them front and centre of her business model.
Grace Robbie
Speaking on a recent episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, Melaine Vairawanathan, the founder of Melbourne-based law firm Melmark Law, shared her story of breaking away from traditional gender roles. She discussed how she has effectively balanced her career in law with the responsibilities of motherhood, serving as a compelling example of women’s ability to achieve both professional and personal fulfilment in the legal profession.
Growing up in Sri Lanka, Vairawanathan recounted how, from a young age, she observed the constraints placed on women by traditional gender expectations, which served as a catalyst for her to defy these norms.
“I grew up in Sri Lanka [and] I saw firsthand how traditional gender roles limited women, and I wanted to break away from that mould and to show that women can achieve so much more,” she said.
Vairawanathan discussed how her early days in the legal field were anything but easy, revealing how her first job didn’t provide her with any pay.
“My early days as a lawyer were tough. I took on my first job at a suburban law firm where I worked for six months without paying, just eagerly getting my foot in the door and gaining experience,” she said.
“To make ends meet, I worked a second job at a market research firm at night, juggling both jobs to make ends meet.”
Vairawanathan’s determination and perseverance led to her achieving a significant milestone: landing a position at a Melbourne law firm. There, she quickly climbed the ranks from family lawyer to head of the family law department.
“Eventually, I caught a break at a Melbourne law firm where I worked my way up from family lawyer, a senior associate, eventually becoming the head of the family law department,” she said.
As her career began to flourish, Vairawanathan encountered a common yet significant challenge experienced by many women: the desire to initiate a family without compromising her career trajectory.
“But as my career progressed, I wanted to start a family. I read a quote at the time that said the career clock and biological clock are always [in] conflict. I thought, what a load of rubbish. I firmly believe that as a woman, I was in control of my life, [and] I could choose when and how to construct my personal [and] professional parts,” she said.
However, Vairawanathan faced the harsh reality that juggling her growing career and family life in the legal industry was highly challenging, where overwork and inflexibility were the norm.
“Then I soon realised that as a first-generation immigrant woman in Australia, it was nearly impossible to balance family and this high performance in an environment with a corporate culture that supported or normalised overwork, both in terms of hours and the volume of work and the rigid and inflexible working environments,” she said.
Instead of letting this reality deter her, it sparked a fiery determination to bring about change where Vairawanathan was not only determined to carve out a new path for herself but also to open doors for other women in the legal profession.
“That’s when it hit me. I knew that I had to make a change, not just a change for myself but also for other female lawyers.
“So at the peak of my career, I left my full-time job, which was, you know, paying the bills and providing stability, and I plunged into this uncertain world of being self-employed, and I founded Melmark law,” she said.
Vairawanathan articulated the significant challenges of establishing a law firm as a first-time mother, emphasising that the experience was demanding yet ultimately gratifying.
“Being a lawyer is hard enough, [but] then starting a business and being a mother, it’s a balancing act, and it can be both challenging, but it’s incredibly rewarding,” she said.
“I have an incredible team at Melmark Law who share my vision and values, and the support allows me to focus on what I love most, which is being a lawyer and being accessible to our clients.”
