May 2017 | Emily Schneider, Senior Associate, Professional Indemnity and Pro Bono Co-Ordinator from Wotton + Kearney
I became a lawyer because …
The law looked like it could offer me a challenging, stimulating and satisfying career. It has proved to be all these things and more.
A key mentor who influenced my career is …
A key mentor who influenced my career could not be narrowed down to one person. Rather, it was the person who told me I could start law in my 20s while working full time; the barrister that told me not downplay that, at that time, I was junior lawyer; the partners that took the time to show me not just what needed to be done but why; and my current partners who believed in me enough to allow me to allocate part of my week to working on and facilitating a strong pro bono practice in Melbourne.
I am really proud that …
I am really proud that, as the Melbourne office’s first Pro Bono Co-ordinator, with the support of the Wotton + Kearney partners, the pro bono and CSR practice in Melbourne has grown from strength to strength.
Before I started at Wotton + Kearney …
I worked at Gadens Lawyers and, prior to that, the Law Institute of Victoria.
You can have it all …
“...but not all at once” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to former President, Barack Obama. This quote resonated with me as life is full of trade offs and the best we can all do is do our best to ensure that our lives are filled with whatever it is we need at each particular point in our own lives.
One of the key legal initiatives I am involved in …
Is working with asylum seekers living in detention, giving them a voice where they otherwise say that they feel that they have been forgotten about.
If I wasn’t a lawyer …
Would run a health food café which would be so successful that I’d travel throughout Europe every winter.
The best advice I ever received was ...
Is that, in the legal profession, your reputation is everything.
I am extremely grateful for …
Having been able to work with clever and committed lawyers throughout my career.
Outside of the law …
I love to travel. Last year I went to Cambodia and was moved to tears at the killing fields and I spent 9 days in Kenya for the culmination of W+K raising over $100k for our 2016 charity partner, So They Can.
