Bryan Parsons, Lawyer, Canberra shares his career journey, hints and tips.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a lawyer in our Dispute Resolution team in Canberra, having moved down with my partner. In my various teams I’ve been able to see a variety of work including front-end and back-end work.

What rotations have you done?

In my time at the firm I’ve been fortunate to work as a paralegal/clerk in our Workplace, Real Estate and Insurance and Corporate Risk teams. As a graduate lawyer I’ve rotated through our Insurance teams and Dispute Resolution teams. After having these experiences I am certain that I will build a career in litigation.

What was it that attracted you to MinterEllison?

I decided to apply for MinterEllison as I knew that as Australia's largest law firm I'd have the best exposure to a diversity of work, and be sufficiently challenged. It was also important for me to apply and work for a law firm that values diversity and inclusion, given that I am both part of the LGBTQ community and am a dual citizen

How has the team at MinterEllison helped to support you?

I’ve had some excellent mentors and colleagues at MinterEllison. My colleagues have always provided me with feedback on my work and given me examples of work to learn from and to build on. I also have been supported in my court appearances so that I always felt confident.

If you could tell your uni-self one thing, what would it be?

Be sure to learn the basics. Although it was easy to get invested in the each individual subject, it is important to remember how the various subjects connect with each other and that the law is not a “patch work” blanket but more like a complex tapestry . Particularly in litigation, you will be shocked how often a return to basic principles is the best way to address any situation.

”Be sure to learn the basics. ...it is important to remember how the various subjects connect with each other”

Working from home, or working from the office? What are the benefits?

For me it's definitely best to have a combination of both! I find working from home allows me to tackle tasks that are best dealt with individually and in my own time.

However working from the office is best when I need to collaborate with the team and socialise as well! Either way, I appreciate that both styles of work as I can manage my day so that I can still fit in the other important things in life, like exercise, time with family and some social time as well.