Barrister: I wasn’t always a barrister. My journey to the bar was not conventional, but all my experiences before this moment have combined to make me the barrister I am today. It’s the best job in the world. Who wouldn’t love to dress up in 18th century garb and pit your wits against another human being in a court room full of people – always with the sobering knowledge that someone is depending on you. No pressure then. No hiding behind a call or the filing cabinets. A barrister might have a hangover, a bout of gastro or just a bad day but that all must put aside. The minute you step into the court room. Its Show Time. The judge, the opponents and sometimes your client are pitted against you. Courage, rigour, persistence and some intellect can turn the odds in your favour. My mentor told me that no one else matters in the room but you. That surprised me initially but Its your job to know more about the case than anybody else. Its all up to you.
Before the Bar: As a small boy, like most I guess, I wanted to be a RAF fighter pilot. So just before the Gulf War I went to England and stayed with an army buddy of my dad who had served in the Falklands War, a special forces soldier who had trained my dad for the Parachute Regiment selection course years before. Col Bob trained my body and soul to be an RAF pilot and even got his driver to drive me personally in his staff car for my aptitude testing and interview at RAF Biggin Hill. I was actually accepted, having got down to the final three candidates out of 110, but I failed at the final hurdle – the eye test. You needed 20/20 back in those days. I curtly turned down their offer of becoming an RAF Navigator and, whilst the outcome was disappointing, did the next best thing – I returned to Australia to study Aeronautical and Biomedical Engineering at The University of Sydney.
Engineer: Determined to do well I received the Royal Society Prize, the Young Biomedical Engineers Award from the College of Biomedical Engineers, the Society for Biomaterials Prize and a PhD Scholarship. This led to a bachelor’s and master’s degree in composite materials in Aeronautical and Biomedical Engineering. I was published in the Journal of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which was rare in Australia. I wasn’t going to be the only one in my family who could use the prefix Dr so my research in dental and orthopaedic materials led to a PhD. I also tutored engineering at The University of Sydney. Commercialisation of my PhD research then led me to pursue a career in law.
Lawyer: I wasn’t quite the oldest in my class but old enough. I did ok getting a first class honours degree from Sydney University Law school and my first job straight out of university was with, in my opinion, the best firm in Sydney at the time – Mallesons Stephen Jaques. I was working for a top tier firm, learning heaps and working with the most interesting clients and deals. Just bliss.
London. I then accepted an offer of employment form the magic circle Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. My interest turned to international banking and finance work. The highlight for me during this period was advising the Bank of England during the GFC in relation to the Special Liquidity Scheme, the Discount Window and the Asset Purchase Facility and other repo programmes all of which were established by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. I was very proud to have made a contribution during the GFC. I loved aviation law, but I never knew that contracts could only be exchanged when the aircraft were in certain airspace. Many a time I would be getting up at 4 am and exchanging contracts and then wandering around the historic streets of London occasionally dropping into the “Wig and Pen” for a pint before returning to the office and then retiring to my flat in Pimlico.
Hongkong: I became a senior lawyer and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer offered me an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down. I was going to work in Hong Kong. I was born in Hong Kong where my dad had been stationed during the Vietnam War. I was to add to the growing office and that’s when I seriously took on a diverse structured finance practice. I worked on almost every conceivable type of structured finance transaction. My parents came to stay. I recall my mum saying ‘HK harbour looks a little smaller than I remember it”. Sitting by the pool to cool down, it was a good opportunity to catch up and discuss the future. Did I really want to stay in the hard and fast world of Hong Kong commerce or should I return to Australia and fulfil a law school fascination of being at the Bar? I certainly enjoyed the Hong Kong experience and the people I worked with. I wanted to come home, spend time with my nephews and parents and make some sort of a difference to peoples’ lives. I got the textbooks out again and studied—hard for the bar exams!
And here I am! No regrets.
