Austyn Campbell

5:15 AM

I’ve hit snooze three times already, attempting to avoid my early-morning fitness class. Knowing my trainer will invariably call me if I miss our session, I jump out of bed and within 15 minutes (and one quick espresso later) I’m rolling into my 5:45 am boxing class.

7:45 AM

I’ve finished boxing, had breakfast and wrestled with my outfit indecision to pull myself together just in time to rush to the train.

8:30 AM

I head into the office, pop my lunch in the fridge and go to my desk. I have a great view across the city, made better by the great weather outside. We have an open-plan layout, so immediately I can see at least half the team has taken the benefit of the firm’s flexible working arrangements and are working from home. I check and respond to my emails, and review my calendar for today’s tasks. It’s a busy day ahead so I am sort of glad I have less colleagues in my immediate vicinity to procrasti-chat with today.

9:00 AM

The weekly meeting for the Litigation & Regulatory team kicks off the day. It’s one of my favourite parts of the week as it provides an update on all the interesting matters the team is undertaking. Our team undertakes a broad range of work, including insurance, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) regulatory compliance and general commercial litigation so there’s always something exciting to hear about.

9:30 AM

A quick coffee break after the team meeting. Despite having a great coffee machine in the kitchen, some of the team and I head out to our favourite local coffee shop (Archer, for any other Brisbanites). It’s a great opportunity to catch up about our weekends and the week to come.

10:30 AM

I pop on my jacket and head down to the Supreme Court with a solicitor in my team. One of our matters has been listed for Callover, so we sit patiently in the public gallery until called by the judge.

There’s quite a few interesting matters ahead of ours and it’s a great opportunity to hear different styles of advocacy.

12:30 PM

Back to the office and it’s lunch time! I grab my lunch from the fridge and head down to the building’s outdoor eating/green space to meet with friends.

1:00 PM

After lunch I’m feeling full of energy and ready to smash out some work. Headphones in and I’m drafting indemnity advices for our insurer clients, alongside discrete tasks for other solicitors in the team. A large segment of the work I do includes assisting insured financial service providers with responding to complaints before AFCA. This involves a lot of insurance policy analysis, and drafting of submissions and letters of advice. This afternoon however, I only need to draft updates to the insurers and to the insureds which I then send through to my supervisor for settling. 

3:30 PM

I head with my supervisor to a client meeting along with Counsel. This matter has progressed quickly so the conversation is lively and focused on the steps ahead. Despite being new to the world of insurance litigation, I am able to contribute to the dialogue and discuss the research I’ve undertaken and draft documents I’ve prepared for the matter. It’s rewarding to be able to meet clients at such an early stage of my career and be able to participate in discussions with them. 

5:30 PM

I have a quick check-in with my supervisor before she leaves, and add in any calendar reminders, updates and/or tasks for the following day. Nothing is on fire (phew!), so all clear to head home. I send off a last few emails before heading to the train.

7:00 PM

Tonight I am playing on a local community legal centre’s futsal team. Despite playing in a friendly league, we certainly bring out some of our superstar moves to…. lose 2-1. We gave it our best and I feel good about our performance despite the result. Definitely a great way to unwind after a long day.

8:30 PM

Sufficiently exhausted from the game, I head home for a shower and to prepare dinner. I’m no “Masterchef”, but I give making one of my favourite curries, Palak Paneer, a red hot go. It’s not too bad (definitely edible, especially with a nice glass of red wine) and the leftovers will be perfect for lunch tomorrow.

9:30 PM

As I am still undertaking my Practical Legal Training, I log in and smash out an hour on this week’s assignment for my Civil Litigation unit. It has been a long day so my studies are interspersed with quite a bit of social media scrolling - oops.

10:30 PM

I quickly check my emails for any late night updates to matters before heading to bed. Thankfully nothing has come through. It has been a busy day, so I am quick to fall asleep – ready for what tomorrow has in store.