The annual Tristen Jespon Memorial Foundation Lecture has called for “honesty and realism” from the legal industry when recruiting young lawyers.The annual lecture, in memory of law graduate Tristan Jepson who died in 2004, has again raised the need for firms and lawyers to be more realistic with expectations.

Foundation patron, the Hon. Michael Kirby told the audience at last night’s event that there was an element of “unreality” in the legal profession. “We are in a profession which works to time limits, deadlines and excellence,” he said. “We have to introduce an air of reality into the legal profession.”

He said that he felt for the partners of lawyers, who like his own, had spent a career waiting for them to finish work. “My partner put up with hell,” he said. To deal with this issue, Kirby suggested firms become more honest and upfront with their expectations and promises to clients. “It’s hard to change, because it is a profession that works to deadlines,” he added.

Former Freehills partner and national head of state taxation at KPMG, Matthew Stutsel, said he had considered suicide during his time as a lawyer at Freehills because of the time pressure and nature of the work he was doing. “The hours are a reality of the profession,” he said. “The immediate pressure of the work, the nature of the work, the isolation can all contribute to anxiety and depression.”

After 17 years at Freehills Stutsel joined KPMG, an organisation he claims has a much better culture when compared to law. “There is more autonomy and flexibility,” he said. He also has a much larger team at KPMG compared to when he was at Freehills, which he says adds to the feeling that there is balance in his life. “There is more opportunity for you to have a life,” he said.

Former Baker & McKenzie graduate lawyer Emma Buxton told the audience that when she began a private practice career, she found herself working late into the night and missing out on the very things that helped get the job at the firm in the first place. “I teach dancing, and I had to pass on my classes to other teachers because I couldn’t get there at 7.30pm,” she said. “They [firms] should have been more honest with the hours you are likely to work from the start. That way I could have made a more informed decision about working in a private practice firm.”

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