Until last Friday, Dr Iain Ross worked at the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, where he was appointed 12 years ago at the relatively young age of 35.

“I think I’m at the stage of my life where I need to make a decision about whether I remain here until retirement in another 13 years or pursue a second career,” he said of his move. “I think as time goes on, that option becomes more difficult and I thought moving into practice would provide a new challenge.”

As of this week, Ross started his work as a partner in Corrs’ workplace relations team in Melbourne.

Although he has worked as a legal officer for the ACTU and has done work such as legislative drafting he says this is essentially his first role in private practice, but he is looking forward to the challenge of serving clients.

“[Working in private practice] is about providing regulatory advice that will enable clients to cope with the regulatory environment; to pursue ... their objectives. I think you get a broader range of work across the employment law and industrial law areas. So the variety and type of work and the roles are different.”