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Partner Profile: Robin Lonergan
Every week we ask a law firm partner a series of rapid-fire questions about their career. This week: TressCox Lawyers' Robin Lonergan.
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Which firm are you with?
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TressCox Lawyers.
When did you join that firm?
When Macrossans Lawyers merged with TressCox on 1 October 2012.
When were you made a partner of that firm?
I was a partner at Macrossans Lawyers from its inception in 1998 and before that at Hill & Taylor from 1988.
Which firm were you at most recently prior to this?
Macrossans Lawyers.
What practice group are you with?
The corporate commercial team.
What has been a major career highlight for you?
I acted for a number of major Japanese investors through the 1980s and 1990s who remain my clients today. I have enjoyed working cross-culturally and developing these close business and personal relationships.
What do you like about being a lawyer?
Being involved in my clients’ businesses — understanding what is important to them and ensuring that the contracts I draft protect those most important aspects and to ensure a good commercial outcome for the client.
What do you find challenging?
The merger with TressCox has been challenging but rewarding. Any change produces challenges but this merger has been well thought out and executed by the admin team. In saying that, adapting to new systems and the office move created challenges.
What has been the most significant change to your practice area during your career?
When I started as a partner at Hill & Taylor I was acting on the sale of a large cattle property in the Northern Territory. The buyer was from the Middle East and used Slaughter and May, which insisted on exchanging drafts on the contract by telex. I am not sure why they used telex as there was only one secretary at the time that could actually use it, as most document exchanges were by fax (which was printed on a special machine using ink which eventually faded). Now international transactions are easily managed and the exchange is much easier, but this has also led to more lengthy documents.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
Travelling with my family. I am a frustrated architect so I enjoy taking them to famous buildings like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater (in Pennsylvania in the US). I am not sure that my 15-year-old daughter appreciates this entirely.
