Pippin Barry, a finance, securitisation and litigation lawyer returned to Melbourne from London last year and joined Peerpoint. Here he tells us about what it’s like to work from different ends of the world and shares his thoughts on legal consulting.
What was your journey into consulting?
I hadn’t given consulting much thought until Covid-19 came along. As I’m sure everyone else experienced, the pandemic threw up a lot of challenges and made me reconsider my career path. As it turned out it has created a lot of opportunities too.
I’d been enjoying working in A&O’s securitisation team in London, but after the second lockdown, I decided it was best to return home to Australia. Pre-Covid-19 lockdowns, I’d never seriously considered I’d be able to keep working for London from the other side of the world, but the move to remote working during lockdowns showed that this was possible. Luckily the A&O team were open-minded about this possibility and I was able to switch over to Peerpoint whilst continuing to work for the same team.
One of the benefits of consulting that I hadn’t previously considered is that you can establish an incorporated legal practice in Australia to provide your consulting services through. I’d always thought that one day I’d like to start my own practice and consulting has allowed me to start that while still being able to work on excellent legal matters with a leading law firm.
Why does consulting work for you and your lifestyle?
I like the vibe of consulting. You are more in control of your career in terms of choosing which particular assignments you want to take on. I also prefer the client-to-consultant relationship over the employer-to-employee one. The emphasis is on the work product and final result which is something I enjoy.
For me, switching to consulting has been less about singular experiences and more about enjoying a great life and work style change. I feel a lot more in control of my schedule and future. Working remotely allows me flexibility so I can shape my work day and live a more balanced lifestyle. I get to decide how much work I want to take on and the kind of work I want to do; which I feel in turn has improved my performance and enjoyment as a lawyer.
I’ve always sought out variety in my legal career and enjoy taking on new challenges. I think Peerpoint is perfect for lawyers of that ilk as there is such a wide variety of assignments on offer.
I’m also looking forward to using the platform to facilitate short career breaks in the future as you are able to take time off with the security of knowing that Peerpoint will provide ongoing opportunities.
What important skills have you developed since becoming a consultant?
It has brought a new perspective to my work where I think more about the value I’m adding to the matters I’m assigned to. I think this in turn has improved my legal skills and the service I provide to clients.
I also think working remotely from abroad has increased my communication and team-building skills as I’m more aware of ensuring I remain an effective team member even though I can’t be at the office in person.
What advice would you give someone considering consulting?
Reach out. The Peerpoint team has always been really responsive and very helpful. They were able to put me in touch with other Peerpoint consultants to answer any questions I had, something I really appreciated.
If you decide to switch to consulting it’s important you have a clear understanding of how you want it to shape your career, this means you can feel more in control of your future career path. Peerpoint is great at helping form this thinking. I know for a lot of lawyers it can be a bit daunting to step off the usual track towards partnership by staying an employee or going in-house, but there are other options out there.
What’s been one of the best moments of your consulting journey so far?
It’s still early days, but I’d say perhaps the closing of my first deal from Australia and just realising how possible it is to work this way now. It makes me excited to think of the future: the world is an oyster.