Lawyers Weekly is excited to once again host the 2022 Women in Law Awards black-tie gala ceremony on Thursday, 24 November 2022, at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne to celebrate the tireless efforts, dedication, successes, and achievements of women in the legal profession.

We are urging women in the legal profession to submit an entry or nominate a worthy colleague across 31 individual and group categories by 9 September 2022, including the Wellness Advocate of the Year award.

Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, Ms Pearce said that she was initially reluctant to enter an awards program for women.

Explaining her reasoning for this, Ms Pearce said: “I’m surrounded by men and women who believed in me irrespective of gender so in some ways I was a little bit blind to some of the challenges women face because I never felt like they applied to me. But in hindsight, I see that of course they applied to me. My mindset was initially different from what it is now.”

She said she eventually recognised that the Women in Law Awards honours those in the legal profession who have had to “work harder” to succeed.

“It has been harder for women because of the barriers that they have had to overcome. There is a disconnect and that’s why we need these awards until we achieve true parity,” she asserted.

“I think we need this award program because we need to call out the barriers to our success. Moreover, when we do succeed, we need a special celebration. Men and women need to support other women.

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“I’m a huge fan of the awards program, and I think it’s a really good thing for us to get together to celebrate and encourage women.”

Getting a business off the ground

Outlining her achievements that were included in her submission for the award in 2021, Ms Pearce said she established Pearce IP in 2017 with a business model that enabled her staff to work remotely (well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic) and avoid the “inconvenience” of commuting to the office.

“However, what goes with that is that there is no compromise on the sort of work they do,” Ms Pearce said.

“The clients are the same regardless of whether I work in a large firm or in a small start-up firm (which we were back when we started).

“My clients followed me to my firm so there was no compromise on work quality and service. But I have a lower overhead model, which my clients love because it gives more money back in their budget.”

Ms Pearce provides intellectual property services to life sciences clients from early research and development to commercial launch and beyond.

Her services include patent FTO (freedom to operate), research and development clinical and regulatory support, strategic advice, commercialisation strategies, litigation, policy and government affairs support, and trademark assistance.

Having worked at law firm K&L Gates as a patents partner and in the generic medicine industry, Ms Pearce was inspired to replicate that model in her own firm.

“The generic medicines industry offers exactly the same quality product at a different price point. They essentially cut their overheads,” Ms Pearce said.

“I was initially inspired to do exactly that at Pearce IP by offering the same quality and services for intellectual property in life sciences but within a low overhead law firm model.”

How to stand out at awards

Highlighting that she was most proud of venturing “to do things differently”, Ms Pearce urged this year’s entrants at the Women in Law Awards to demonstrate a point of difference to attract the judging panel’s attention.

“I think that excellence is only a starting point because there’s a lot of excellent practitioners out there,” she insisted.

“I think the judges would be looking for someone who is prepared to do things differently. There are lots of different ways for people to shine so we can’t give them that narrative. But I think the judges will look for someone who is truly an outstanding practitioner and leader.”

In her submission, Ms Pearce included financial metrics and letters of recommendation from external lawyers who she had collaborated with on projects.

She pushed other women in the legal profession to enter the awards and carve out the time to effectively and honestly narrate their achievements and successes.

“I think often women hesitate to verbalise the achievements they’re proud of and what they’re good at but I think we need to call it out,” she concluded.

The 2022 Women in Law Awards national awards program is the pinnacle event for recognising female talent in the Australian legal industry.

It will be held on Thursday, 24 November 2022, at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne to reward women who have tirelessly worked to influence and propel the legal profession forward.

It shines a spotlight on the outstanding achievements of executives, barristers, academics, pro bono, students and other legal professionals in large and boutique firms.

Click here to submit an entry or nominate a worthy colleague by 9 September 2022 to be in the running for these prestigious awards.

For more information, including categories and judging process, click here.