Mackrell International's (MI) Mentor Series brings together seasoned lawyers with our Next Generation of legal leaders. MI Mentors share their professional and personal experiences and advice to help guide up-and-coming lawyers.
This article features Alison Green, Partner at Mackrell.Solicitors in the United Kingdom.
Alison Green, partner and head of the family and relationship team at Mackrell.Solicitors shares what she wishes she could have told her younger self - for the benefit of the next generation of lawyers.
From an Outdoor Clerk to an Award-Winning Family Lawyer
Now an award-winning and distinguished lawyer, Alison started studying law after she was asked, “Why don’t you do a law degree?”
She began working at Mackrell.Solicitors in 1987 as an outdoor clerk during summer break. After being invited back, she wore many hats including working on reception and doing filing. After her legal degree, most of her work was litigation-related, so to Alison, the law was all about going to court, which she found exciting.
Eventually, she moved from litigation into family law, which has its own successes and challenges. She touches on many aspects of family law that may interest a young lawyer.
- Being consistent for a client. In a day and age where people are more happy to hop from job to job, longevity is important in family law. Family law cases involve intensely personal situations, so personnel continuity for clients is important for maintaining relationships.
- Leave work at the office. Because family law cases are so personal and sometimes even upsetting or frustrating, you have to be able to walk away from it after the workday is over. You have to set boundaries with yourself, and if you cannot, it may not be right for you.
Alison focuses on personality and commitments.
However, we asked her if there was any advice that she wished she could have shared with her young legal self now. She gave us three pieces of advice -
- Take opportunities. Take opportunities that come to you and run with them. You never know where opportunities may lead you if you do not take them.
- Build and maintain relationships. These relationships include long-standing relationships with lawyers and the people who you mix with in the rest of your everyday life. Anybody that you meet in life could end up potentially being your client one day or a referral source.
- Listen to people. When you listen to people, you pick things up from them. Alison touches on the phrase, “People do business with people, and they come back to you because they like you as a person.” Remembering your client’s birthday or the name of his or her children can go a long way in building a relationship with them.
- Don’t use Google as your default research tool! Check legal sources first and Google only as a last resort or to get the broadest outline.
The full recording of Alison’s discussion with Keith Heddle, MI’s Managing Director, is available on-demand https://youtu.be/urlpGgAtJgo.
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