Episode 14- Breaking Convention and Going It Alone in the Legal Industry with Janelle Kerrisk and Sarah Roach
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Welcome to The Happy Lawyer Happy Life podcast and in this episode, for the very first time, I’m interviewing two guests, so there’s double the reason to have a listen! Their name’s are Janelle Kerrisk and Sarah Roach, and together they’ve done something really extraordinary and recently set up their own firm, Helix Legal.
Individually, both Janelle and Sarah are excellent construction lawyers with heaps of experience, and combined they’re going about taking all the things that one typically associates with traditional law and flipping them on their head. By creating Helix Legal they’re taking pro-active steps towards achieving their dreams and being happy, and have some great tips about method and approach that’s sure to be useful for anyone looking for a new path in their career.
In this episode we really get into:
- What Janelle and Sarah would be doing if they weren’t lawyers
- The growing number of women working in construction law
- How to get to the top at a big legal firm
- Being seen as the leader in your team and the benefits that it can have for everyone
- Establishing networks in the legal industry and why it’ important
- Sarah’s varied experiences throughout her career and how she draws on them, particularly having worked as an accountant
- The differences between in-house and private practice roles
- A day in the life of a construction lawyer
- How setting up Helix Legal has been beneficial for Janelle’s family and her happiness
- Janelle’s family life and how she balances raising children with starting up her own firm
- Attracting the right type of clients by being genuine and transparent
- The most exciting aspects of starting a law firm from scratch
- The new entrepreneurial law space and how different startups support each other
- Working in coworking spaces – the benefits and the challenges
- Janelle and Sarah’s advice for people wanting to go out and set up their own practice
- Janelle and Sarah’s Happiness Challenge!
HAPPY LAWYER HAPPY LIFE
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