Editorial

People of
the Profession

Real people. Real careers.

Personal stories and considered perspectives on life and work in the legal profession.

The Dilemma · Culture

"I've resigned, and now my principal is having a go at me in team meetings"

I gave notice a fortnight ago after six years at a mid-sized firm. Since then I've been closing out files and writing handover notes so nobody inherits a mess. I've met my billing target every year I've been there, and I've covered gaps whenever I was asked, including weekends and leave I never took. At this week's team catch-up, my principal made a pointed remark about people who walk out and leave their colleagues to pick up the slack. No names, but everyone in the room knew who it was about. I'm gutted. Six years of effort seems to have been rewritten in a sentence. I have three weeks left. Do I say something before I go, or keep my head down and leave quietly?

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Portrait of Ashleigh Morris — Guest contributorAshleigh MorrisBarrister at Victorian Bar

The Dilemma

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The Dilemma · Profession

"My client messages me at midnight, and it's stopped being about the case."

A lawyer's client in a parenting matter has started messaging late at night, and the messages have turned personal: "you're the only person who gets me", and a photo of a bottle of wine. Lauren Kreitner explains why setting boundaries isn't abandoning a client, how to reset the relationship without ending it, why to tell someone at work now, and how to point a client towards the support a lawyer can't give.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession

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The Dilemma · Culture

"My partner says I chose work over us years ago. I didn't notice."

In a trial-heavy year, home after 9 most nights and working Sundays, a lawyer is told by their partner that they chose work over the relationship years ago. Lauren Kreitner explains why that conversation is a turning point rather than an ending, why "it's temporary" stops being true after three years, and the small, consistent changes that show a partner they still matter.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession

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The Dilemma · Profession

"I cry in the car after court, then go home and make dinner."

After four years in child protection, a practitioner has started crying in the car after court, then going home as if nothing happened, without telling their partner or their boss. Lauren Kreitner, a social worker who left child protection work herself, explains the difference between a bad day and burnout or vicarious trauma, how to work out what is driving it, and why the first step is not to carry it alone.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession

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Career Journeys

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Career Journeys · Career

Long way to the top: how I ended up with the harbour view I didn’t want

Brad Watts read Hell Has Harbour Views early in his career and decided the corner office wasn’t for him. He spent more than 20 years at the coalface of small-firm practice, moved into legal publishing at By Lawyers, and now works where legal content meets AI. He has also ended up with exactly the Sydney Harbour view he once swore off. His reflection on a career with no master plan argues that the twists and turns can be the most valuable part.

Brad WattsManaging Editor at By Lawyers Australia and New Zealand

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Career Journeys · Career

The art of unconventional ambition & the accidental career

The Bar has a well-worn career path: junior, silk, perhaps the bench. Nearly seven years in, Ashleigh Morris still isn’t sure she wants to follow it. She traces an unplanned route from studying law as a single mother to a family law trial practice and founding The Profession. Along the way she argues that the profession has room for more kinds of ambition, and more kinds of success, than its map suggests.

Ashleigh MorrisBarrister at Victorian Bar

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Career Journeys · Career

Between roles and bridging careers

Lauren Kreitner trained as a social worker in family violence, where most of the work happens between agencies such as police, courts, housing providers and schools. Now Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships at The Profession, she explains why the move felt like the same job in a different building, and why the skills of the caring professions travel further than people think.

Lauren KreitnerFamily Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession

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Meet our contributors

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Ashleigh Morris
Barrister at Victorian Bar
Ashleigh Morris is a Melbourne barrister at Patterson's List, specialising in family law. Her practice is trial-focused, centred on complex property and parenting disputes in the Federal Circuit and Family Court. She also appears in the Children's Court in child protection matters and as an Independent Children's Lawyer. Before coming to the Bar, Ashleigh practised as a family law solicitor, was a Judge's Associate in the Criminal Division of the County Court of Victoria, and lectured in criminal law at Swinburne University of Technology. She is a committee member of the Family Law Association of Victoria and represents the Victorian Bar on the Law Council of Australia's Rural, Regional and Remote Committee.
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Lauren Kreitner
Family Violence Social Worker; Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession
Lauren Kreitner is a family violence social worker. She works directly with victim-survivors, providing safety planning, housing support and case management through some of the hardest periods of their lives. Her work sits at the point where a support need becomes a legal one, and she brings that perspective to The Profession, including as co-presenter of its CPD session Beyond the Referral: Bridging Family Law and Family Violence Services. Lauren is also Head of Partnerships & Operations at The Profession, where she has built much of the platform's infrastructure since 2025, focusing on systems that let it grow while keeping the member experience curated and intuitive. She studied at Monash University.
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Louise Miller
Managing Partner, Veritas Family Law
Louise Miller is the founder and Managing Partner of Veritas Family Law, a Melbourne firm focused on complex separations, including high-value property pools, business and trust interests, and difficult parenting matters. Admitted to practice nearly thirty years ago, she began her career in family law before spending a significant period leading human resources for major Australian organisations across higher education, retail, entertainment and healthcare. That experience of negotiating high-stakes outcomes under pressure shapes how she practises. She established Veritas in 2021 around a whole-of-separation approach, working alongside financial planners, mortgage brokers, conveyancers, mediators and counsellors so that clients leave with a plan for what comes next. Veritas has offices in the Melbourne CBD, Box Hill and Mentone.
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Brad Watts
Managing Editor at By Lawyers Australia and New Zealand
Admitted as a NSW solicitor in 1994, Brad completed a corporate management traineeship before working for more than 20 years’ in private and government legal practice, including as a partner, director and consultant. Having been a contributing author for 10 years, Brad joined By Lawyers full time in January 2018, bringing a wealth of knowledge and an empathetic, hands-on approach to the business of helping law firms access the best possible legal content via the By Lawyers legal guides and precedents. Brad manages the Australian and New Zealand operations of By Lawyers, liaising with subscribers and authors to ensure the guides and precedents always remain practical and up to date. Particular areas of professional interest are litigation, criminal law, wills and estates, and practice management. Specialty: Keeping it real!
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