Speaking on a recent episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, Ms Rippon discussed her passion for the construction space and how Construction Legal found its point of difference for clients.

Ms Rippon graduated from law school 20 years ago and was originally tossing up between studying law and architecture.

“I ended up working in a large firm in the construction sector in their dispute resolution team. And that’s where my passion for construction law really developed, and it enabled me to tie in my interest with architecture as well. I love buildings, I love the culture that buildings give to people. I was there for 10 years, working as a senior associate,” she said.

“And then after that, I went in-house. I was a general counsel for a tier-one developer, and that’s where my passion for development grew. That’s where I learned everything about residential building law and where my interest in government reforms started. After five years working with that large developer, I decided to branch out on my own and set up Construction Legal in 2018 with my husband. And that’s where we are today. We’ve got a team of 20, and we are just going from strength to strength.”

This passion is something that gets Ms Rippon out of bed every day, as well as a number of other key drivers, including the Opal Tower incidents in 2018, which spurred her interest in regulation for the construction industry.

“I love people. I’m a very social person. I love mentoring young talent. And in addition to that, I do have a passion for construction, which started when I wanted to go into architecture as well. But I think the main focus for me was when I was working in-house in a development company, and that’s when I saw the incidents of Opal Tower.

“Back in [December] 2018, about 51 units had to evacuate because they heard a large bang. And then that sent shock waves to the industry, and it prompted the state government to respond with the building commissioner. At the same time, I was doing my thesis for my master’s degree, and my thesis incidentally was [about] how to improve the quality of construction and how to fix the strata living crisis. Because 80 per cent of buildings that were being built back in that time suffered from defects, be it major defects or non-major defects,” she added.

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“[The construction industry] had been operating with minimal regulation and supervision and oversight, and my passion has sort of grown from then. I really wanted to be part of that change and educate and advocate for better quality buildings because it’s our kids and our kids’ kids that are going to be living in these buildings, and they need to be built better, they need to be more sustainable. So, that really drives me.”

Construction Legal is also not just a boutique law firm; it also offer in-house engineering and construction consulting.

“When I launched in 2018, I actually launched it with my husband, who’s a 30-year major project specialist. He worked at Downer EDI; he was on the big government PPP projects. And we sort of got together and we said, ‘Look, what is our point of difference? How can we distinguish Construction Legal from the market?’ And we said, ‘Well, why don’t we just join forces and offer a twin-barrelled approach that is not just legal advice?’ And that’s actually been our reason for our growth,” Ms Rippon added.

“I always say to my younger staff, you just don’t deliver legal advice. The construction industry is very volatile at the moment. Lawyers need to understand market conditions, what impacts the client, what this project really is about. What is the risk profile? And it’s only until lawyers understand the commercialities behind a transaction, that’s when they’re really going to offer powerful advice to their clients. So, it’s not just being a lawyer; it’s being commercially savvy and delivering holistic advice that makes business sense.”

Despite the volatility of the construction market at the moment, Ms Rippon said that sticking to her niche has helped her as a boutique firm owner amid a global economic downturn.

“It’s hard. You will make mistakes. It’s all about being determined and just having that grit to keep going. And understand that as a lawyer, you are a business advisor. So also think of providing commercial advice that fits nicely. I’ll give you an example of what we offer. We acted for a large rail company on a tender, and they initially came to us to review the T’s and C’s of the contract and not the technical specification,” she explained.

“When we delivered our advice, we actually delivered not only the legal piece, but our consulting arm, my husband’s business, was also able to identify errors in the construction scope of works. And when we delivered that holistic approach to the client, they were blown away. They were absolutely blown away, and we actually saved them a lot of money because it would’ve ended up in a dispute scenario. So, I think just be nimble, understand what your niche is, and never give up.”

In addition, Ms Rippon said that boutique firm leaders should also be positioning themselves more as business advisers moving forward.

“I learned a long time ago that no one is going to read your five-page advice. Business owners, executives, they’re too busy. So, they’ll read the first few paragraphs and they’ll expect the answer on the front page. So, for me, just distilling the legal problem in a way that speaks to the audience is crucial because people are time-poor, and the advice needs to be woven into the environment they are operating in,” she concluded.

“It needs to dovetail with what they’re doing. It needs to talk to the business objectives of that transaction. And that is crucial because otherwise, it’s just literature, isn’t it? And it’s hard for people to unpack. So, our job is making our client’s job easier, and that’s powerful.”

The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Jessica Rippon, click below: