Why can’t regional Australia attract the lawyers it needs?

She attended city-based career fairs, completed part of her practical legal training with a top-tier firm, and assumed Sydney was where she needed to be. But something wasn’t quite clicking.

“I remember thinking at one point, ‘I’ve worked so hard for this law degree, but is this really what I imagined practising law would be like?’” Robertson said.

When an opportunity arose in Dubbo, NSW, she decided to give it a go. She would spend a year gaining experience, then head back to the city.

“My plan was simple: spend a year here, gain some experience, and then head back to the city. Fifteen years later, I’m still here,” she said.

Robertson is now the principal solicitor of Western Women’s Legal Support (WWLS), and she’s finding it difficult to convince other lawyers to consider the career path she nearly overlooked herself.

Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, Robertson said the organisation faces significant challenges attracting experienced practitioners, particularly in specialist areas involving demanding and emotionally taxing work. Some solicitor vacancies attract very few suitable applicants, sometimes none at all.

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“Competition for lawyers is intense, with community legal centres, Legal Aid, Aboriginal legal services, private firms, and government agencies often competing for the same small pool of practitioners,” she said.

“While regional practice offers meaningful work, early responsibility, and strong community connections, attracting lawyers away from metropolitan centres remains difficult.”

Despite years of practitioners championing the opportunities available outside capital cities, regional employers are still struggling to fill positions.

Some have responded by developing their own talent. Others are trying to reach law students before their career plans become firmly fixed on metropolitan employers. And while remote work has made regional living more accessible, it has introduced a complication for communities trying to build their local legal workforce.

The question is no longer simply whether regional practice has enough to offer. It’s why those opportunities aren’t consistently translating into lawyers on the ground.

Breaking down the misconceptions

For Alana Jacquet, managing partner of Our Lawyers, developing young practitioners sometimes means putting their learning ahead of billable hours.

“Our model is very much service-driven rather than fee-driven,” she said.

“A staff member could sit in court with me for four days and not bill.”

Jacquet said that kind of exposure might not be available to a junior lawyer in another firm. Her approach involves giving younger practitioners opportunities to attend court, sit in on client meetings and work through matters directly with senior lawyers, without making billing the deciding factor.

When she took over the business approximately eight years ago, she recognised the need to develop local talent rather than depend entirely on attracting established lawyers from elsewhere.

Her practice has since grown from seven staff to 17, with the possibility of another appointment.

The benefits of that approach aren’t confined to graduates. Jacquet said that even experienced solicitors joining Our Lawyers from other firms have been surprised by the range of work and mentoring available.

She recalled a senior solicitor with approximately 10 years of experience who had gained greater exposure to complex matters, court work, and the interplay between different areas of law since joining the firm.

“She said she’s learnt more in the last two years with us than she did in the eight years previous, which is just astounding,” she said.

Having previously worked in a city-based specialist family law firm, Jacquet said her own exposure to other areas of law in regional practice, including conveyancing and commercial matters, ultimately made her a better family lawyer.

Understanding how those areas intersect with family law matters gave her a broader perspective on the problems clients bring through the door. It’s why she encourages junior lawyers not to become pigeonholed too early.

Sally Callander, principal solicitor of Mudgee-based DLH Solicitors, sees similar opportunities for lawyers willing to consider regional practice.

“One of the biggest professional benefits of regional practice is the breadth of experience you gain, often much earlier in your career. In a metropolitan firm, lawyers can become highly specialised and may only work on one relatively narrow area of law. In regional practice, you’re exposed to a broader range of matters, clients, and legal issues, meaning you develop a wider skill set and a much stronger understanding of the law in practice.

“You also take on responsibility much earlier. Regional lawyers often have more direct contact with clients and are involved in matters from beginning to end, while still having experienced people around them to provide guidance and support. This combination of meaningful responsibility and professional development can be incredibly valuable early in your career.”

Callander said mentoring can look different, too. A young lawyer might be one of only a handful of juniors in a regional office, rather than one of dozens of graduates competing for attention and opportunities.

Then there’s the perception that regional matters are somehow less sophisticated.

“It’s the same thinking people have about living in the country – that it’s all hay bales and tractors. Regional clients have the same complex legal, commercial and personal issues as metropolitan clients – they’re just dealing with them in a different environment. In many cases, there are additional layers of complexity because of geography, access to services, smaller communities and the importance of longstanding relationships,” Callander said.

Jacquet’s firm, which has accredited specialists in family law, wills and estates, and business law, handles matters ranging from everyday legal problems to multimillion-dollar asset pools, complicated company and trust structures, and complex parenting disputes.

She recalled Sydney barristers commenting on the complexity of matters originating from her practice.

“I genuinely think people think they’re not going to get the complex cases,” she said.

Yet the breadth and complexity of the work haven’t made recruitment easy.

Half the battle

Callander believes perception remains a significant obstacle when it comes to recruitment in regional areas, particularly among lawyers who assume a regional move would mean compromising their career progression or professional development.

However, she acknowledged that relocation is rarely a purely professional decision.

Experienced solicitors may have established networks in metropolitan areas, she said, while partners, children, and other family circumstances can influence whether a move is practical. Some lawyers also want to specialise in areas where particular opportunities are concentrated in larger firms or major cities, Callander explained.

“We often find it difficult to attract the depth of expertise we need because of this fear of taking the first step,” she said.

“So I think the challenge is less about the opportunities not being there, and more about making sure people understand what those opportunities actually look like – and giving them a reason to take the leap.”

Jacquet has experienced the difficulty of attracting established practitioners firsthand. She said recruitment was the first problem she noticed when she took over Our Lawyers, and it remains the hardest part of running the business.

Attracting more experienced staff has proved so difficult that she has shifted her attention towards developing lawyers closer to home. She recruits university students from the Southern Highlands and neighbouring Wollondilly region while they’re still studying, invests in their development and hopes they will build their careers with the firm.

That takes time, and there is no guarantee that every lawyer will stay. But it gives Our Lawyers a way to develop the practitioners it needs without relying solely on persuading established city lawyers to relocate, Jacquet explained.

Robertson sees another set of challenges from the community legal sector.

WWLS is competing for lawyers against employers with substantially greater resources, including larger firms and government agencies. And while Robertson believes the professional opportunities and lifestyle are attractive, those benefits alone cannot sustain a regional workforce.

“However, lifestyle alone is not enough to overcome workforce shortages. Young practitioners still need competitive salaries, clear career pathways, quality supervision, professional development opportunities and confidence that they can build a long-term career in the region,” she said.

“The lawyers who stay long term are often those who feel professionally supported, see a clear career pathway, and feel connected to their community. Retention isn’t just about convincing lawyers to move to the regions. It’s about ensuring they can build fulfilling, sustainable careers once they get there.”

For community legal centres dealing with demanding work and vulnerable clients, Robertson said adequate funding and support structures are particularly important.

When access to justice depends on your postcode

When positions remain vacant, it’s not just the employer that feels the impact.

For Robertson, the consequences extend well beyond the organisations struggling to recruit. They can determine whether someone can access legal assistance at all.

“Ultimately, it means access to justice can depend on your postcode,” she said.

“For someone in a major city, being unable to use one particular lawyer or service may mean there are dozens of alternatives. In a small regional or remote community, the alternative might be hundreds of kilometres away, have a significant waitlist, or simply not exist.

“For the clients we work with, particularly women experiencing domestic and family violence and sexual abuse, delay can have very real consequences. Legal problems don’t sit neatly on hold while somebody waits weeks for an appointment.”

Robertson identified family law, domestic and family violence, and sexual assault-related legal work as areas where recruitment is particularly difficult from WWLS’s perspective.

When a position remains unfilled, existing practitioners may be left carrying heavier workloads. Clients can face longer waiting times, outreach services may be reduced, and, in some cases, legal assistance may not be available at all.

Callander described similar consequences for regional communities more broadly.

“A shortage of lawyers in regional communities isn’t simply a workforce issue for individual firms – it directly affects people’s ability to access timely, quality legal advice.

“In regional areas, there [are] often fewer practitioners and fewer firms to choose from, so when a practice can’t attract enough lawyers, the consequences are immediately felt. There’s a definite flow-on effect - matters take longer to progress, clients may have to travel significant distances to access specialist advice, or they settle for a lawyer they don’t feel is offering quality advice,” Callander said.

There is also the pressure on the lawyers who remain. As workloads increase, retaining existing practitioners can become harder, creating further recruitment problems for already stretched employers.

Technology has helped regional firms reach clients and colleagues beyond their immediate communities. But it hasn’t necessarily increased the number of lawyers available to serve those communities.

Living regionally v practising regionally

For Callander, remote and hybrid work have helped challenge some of the longstanding assumptions about regional careers.

Her firm may be based in Mudgee, NSW, but it now serves clients across the country.

The pandemic, she said, challenged the idea that lawyers need to be physically located in a major city to access technology, professional networks, or career opportunities. It also encouraged people to reconsider where they wanted to live.

Robertson agrees that technology has opened doors, particularly when it comes to professional development, supervision, and collaboration. But she also pointed to a less obvious consequence of remote work.

“A lawyer can now live in Dubbo and work remotely for a Sydney firm. That’s fantastic for that individual, but it doesn’t necessarily increase legal capacity in regional areas,” she said.

Robertson also cautioned that technology cannot entirely replace the benefits of having practitioners embedded locally.

“Community legal work, particularly in areas such as domestic and family violence, often relies heavily on building trust and strong relationships with clients and partner agencies. Face-to-face engagement remains incredibly important, especially when working with vulnerable clients who may be experiencing crisis, trauma, or significant safety concerns,” she said.

Jacquet described how her firm’s connections extend well beyond other legal practitioners. She works closely with Pop In, a local domestic violence service, including undertaking pro bono work, while the firm’s lawyers have established referral networks with psychologists, financial planners, accountants, and real estate agents.

“I also have lots of referral networks to psychologists and things like that,” she said.

Her wills and estates team has connections with financial planners and accountants, while the firm’s conveyancing practitioners know local real estate agents. Those relationships mean lawyers can connect clients with other professionals who can help them navigate problems beyond the immediate legal matter.

“The client’s never just here for legal services,” Jacquet said.

“You’re going to have a huge community of people around them to support them in whatever they do.”

She said the ability to refer a client to someone she knows, then work collaboratively with that person, is a powerful benefit of practising locally.

“And I never had that up in Sydney,” she said.

For Robertson, there are also limits to how much junior lawyers can learn remotely. The close mentoring, court exposure, and hands-on experience that regional employers promote can be harder to replicate when teams are largely working from different locations.

She sees flexible work as a useful complement to regional recruitment, rather than a replacement for developing a locally embedded profession.

Getting lawyers through the door

If established practitioners are difficult to attract, reaching lawyers earlier in their careers may be one way to widen the pool.

It’s the thinking behind Jacquet’s approach at Our Lawyers. Recruiting university students with existing connections to the region gives her an opportunity to develop lawyers who might otherwise leave to pursue careers elsewhere.

But the strategy depends on having experienced practitioners available to supervise them. Growing the workforce from within is a longer-term investment, not an immediate answer to an unfilled senior position.

Robertson believes regional employers need to connect with prospective lawyers well before graduation.

“If I could change one thing, it would be increasing exposure to regional legal practice much earlier in a lawyer’s journey,” she said.

“In my experience, the biggest barrier isn’t necessarily convincing people to stay in regional NSW. It’s getting them to consider it in the first place. Too many law students graduate having never met a regional lawyer, visited a regional legal service, or considered that some of the most rewarding legal careers in Australia are being built outside the major cities.”

Robertson wants stronger connections between universities and regional legal services through placements, clerkships, practical legal training opportunities, and graduate programs.

But community legal centres face a particular disadvantage in getting in front of students.

“Community legal centres simply don’t have the resources to compete with the recruitment budgets, graduate programs and brand recognition of large city firms or government agencies. Time and again, we are competing for talent against organisations with far greater capacity to market themselves to law students and graduates,” she said.

“I decided that rather than simply advertising another vacancy, I needed to challenge the perception behind the recruitment problem. If students only ever see city firms promoted as the benchmark of success, it’s hardly surprising that many never consider regional practice as a genuine career option.”

That thinking led Robertson to create Discover Dubbo, a three-part video series featuring lawyers discussing their work and the lives they have built in the regional centre.

“We deliberately didn’t just film lawyers sitting behind desks talking about legal work. We wanted to show their lives as well, because we’re not just trying to recruit lawyers to jobs; we’re inviting people to build a life here,” she said.

Jacquet understands the appeal. She described a practice where the office is largely empty by 5pm, staff can attend their children’s school activities, and the proximity of homes, schools, and workplaces makes balancing professional and family responsibilities more manageable.

She also spoke about the relationships that develop when lawyers become part of the communities they serve, from clients bringing homemade food into the office to visiting elderly clients in their homes.

“You become woven into the fabric of the community,” she said.

But as Callander pointed out, a prospective recruit’s decision may still come down to family circumstances, established networks or the particular career they want to pursue. And Robertson has been clear that a compelling picture of regional life cannot compensate for inadequate salaries, funding or professional support.

Whether Discover Dubbo translates into applications, appointments, or longer-term retention remains to be seen. Jacquet’s local recruitment strategy offers a different response, but one that also depends on employers having the time and resources to develop their lawyers.

Both approaches address a problem regional employers know well: lawyers cannot apply for opportunities they have never considered, and firms cannot depend indefinitely on experienced practitioners deciding to relocate.

Yet attracting interest is only part of the challenge. A student persuaded to look beyond Sydney still needs a position with adequate supervision and a viable career path. An experienced lawyer weighing a move may need opportunities for their partner, suitable schooling for their children, and confidence that their own professional development won’t stall.

For employers such as WWLS, the stakes are particularly high. An unfilled position can mean fewer clients seen, longer waits, and less outreach in communities where there may be no readily available alternative.

Robertson arrived in Dubbo expecting to stay for a year and has remained for 15. Her experience shows what can happen when a lawyer encounters a career they hadn’t previously imagined. Her recruitment difficulties show why the profession cannot rely on individual discoveries like hers to meet regional demand.

The work is there, and so are the clients. The challenge is building a workforce that can stay long enough to serve them.