Why working in the bush is the fast track for legal careers

Callander explained that, unlike city lawyers, often confined to a single practice area, working in the bush immerses you in a constant mix of legal challenges, rapidly building skills, sharpening problem solving, and expanding your legal toolkit in ways the city rarely offers.

“Being a regional lawyer, it’s a whole different ball game [from] being a lawyer in the city. Usually, when you work in the city, you will work in one area of law. So you might go into family law, and you’ll do that all day, every day, for 10 years,” she said.

“Here, you have to have quite a vast range of knowledge, and that knowledge is being developed every day.

“I’ve been practising for 15 years, and I will get a different question or area that I have to try and work out how I can assist the client.”

Callander emphasised that working in an environment where no two days are the same hones lawyers into versatile, well-rounded professionals, constantly putting every ounce of their legal knowledge and research skills into practice.

“So you develop more, and it’s good brain training. All of those research skills that you get in your law degree, you’re putting them to use sort of every day, trying to work out the best way to solve the problem for your client,” she said.

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“You become very well-rounded in the type of lawyer you are.”

This breadth of experience is not the only advantage for young lawyers to gain that can help with their career trajectory, as Callander also noted that, compared to the city, there is more personalised mentoring and guidance on offer thanks to smaller teams and a less competitive environment.

“What you’re going to find in the bush is that you are going to get a lot more attention from the solicitors that you work for and a lot more mentoring than you might get in the city,” she said.

“Because more likely than not, you might be one or two of you working as opposed to many, many graduate solicitors and sort of that really competitive nature that you’ve got there in the country.”

Instead of the tough, cut-throat mentorship common in the city, Callander highlighted that working in the country gives young lawyers a kinder, more nurturing guidance – one that shapes their early years and lays the groundwork for a truly strong and confident legal career.

“I had it myself. You are going to be really well mentored, and that’s such an important part of becoming a solicitor because it’s so important who’s teaching you in those first couple of years,” she said.

“It’s not that the legal industry doesn’t have a great reputation for being amazingly kind and friendly mentors. It’s sort of pretty hardcore, and I just found when I came to the country with such a softer approach.”

Through this approach to mentorship, she explained, young lawyers can be guided in ways that nurture their learning, deepen their knowledge, and, most importantly, allow them to genuinely enjoy and thrive in their work.

“There’s no need for it to be horrible. I know when I was in my first job, everyone was sort of like, just endure it. I don’t agree with that. I don’t think that’s how we need to be teaching our law graduates,” she said.

“You don’t have to be like, you don’t have to be horrible and tough and competitive, and you can actually mentor somebody in a way that they learn and then they actually enjoy their job as well.”