The Place of Practice

As I was reviewing this book, sitting in my backyard with my border collies, a 10-minute walk from my office, on a warm Mildura day, it did not surprise me that: “Most regional and rural lawyers are bush-bred and have either stayed or returned home or have moved to another regional locality”. The collection of contributions by academics, authors and practising lawyers offers considerations and strategies for those law students and admitted lawyers considering practice outside metropolitan and suburban Australia. While there could have been more focus on the opportunities and strengths of regional and rural practice, the publication does raise many valid considerations and challenges. Expectations of fast-tracked careers, entrepreneurial opportunities, increased early face to face client contact and economic realities are well acknowledged. Potential professional and social isolation, living in a fish bowl, and limited mental health, welfare and personal services are certainly real challenges. The publication acknowledges that each area and community is different. To succeed you need to know your community and legal market. For those without prior connection, making friends and developing social networks is a vital, but not necessarily easy part of entering a new community. - Michael Holcroft, InPrint, Law Institute Journal Victoria, April 2018

Trish Mundy is Senior Lecturer and Law Discipline Leader in the School of Law at the University of Wollongong. Prior to academia, Trish practised for over 10 years in the community legal sector, with a particular focus on family law, domestic and family violence and the provision of legal services in and to rural, regional and remote (RRR) communities. Her principal research interests concern the advancement of women within the legal profession and legal practice in RRR Australia. In 2012, Trish was part of an Australian Office for Learning and Teaching funded project designed to develop strategies within the undergraduate law curriculum to prepare and attract lawyers to RRR legal practice. She has since successfully developed an elective offering at UOW titled Legal Practice in Rural and Regional Communities. Trish has written on the urban-centric nature of legal education and the importance of recognising RRR places within law curricula, and about the ways in which `place’ based curricula can support positive professional identity development. She is currently a board member of the Women Lawyers’ Association of NSW and its Wollongong Chapter, as well as Chair of the Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre based in Nowra, New South Wales.