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Questions about life and work in the legal profession, considered by people who know it.

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

Recent dilemmas

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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The Dilemma · Career

"My clerks are sending my work to someone more junior. Do I ask why?"

Three years into practice at the Bar, a barrister watches work that used to come to them go to someone more junior, and their diary for the new year is nearly empty. Ashleigh Morris explains why this happens at the three-year mark, how to ask clerks for an honest practice review without sounding like you're begging, and why the lasting fix is solicitors who brief you by name.

Ashleigh MorrisBarrister at Victorian Bar
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The Dilemma · Career

"My colleague earns $18,000 more than me. I'm not supposed to know."

A lawyer learns from a misdirected payroll spreadsheet that a colleague at the same level, in the same team and with the same billables, earns $18,000 more. Louise Miller explains what to do with the spreadsheet, the lawful way to find out more, the reasons pay can differ when everything looks equal, when a gap may be discrimination, and how to ask for a raise without the spreadsheet.

Louise MillerManaging Partner, Veritas Family Law
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The Dilemma · Career

"I've been out of practice for six years. I don't know how to get back in"

Six years after stepping out of practice to raise her children, a lawyer wants to return but faces a lapsed practising certificate, a changed law and job ads demanding recent experience. Louise Miller explains how to get back in: choose a supported role over a title, update in one area rather than trying to relearn everything, use your network before job ads, and explain the gap without apologising for it.

Louise MillerManaging Partner, Veritas Family Law
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The Dilemma · Culture

A partner yelled at me in front of the whole floor. Everyone says “that's just him”.

A graduate is shouted at in front of the whole floor by a partner, over a late filing that wasn’t even theirs, and is told “that’s just him”. Louise Miller explains why being upset isn’t being soft, why a graduate who complains formally takes a real career risk, and how to judge whether this is a culture worth staying in. She also puts the responsibility where it belongs: with the senior people who let it continue.

Louise MillerManaging Partner, Veritas Family Law
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The Dilemma · Ethics

"My client hinted she doesn't see the point anymore. I'm a lawyer, not a counsellor."

A junior family lawyer’s isolated client calls almost daily, and late in one call says she sometimes doesn’t see the point. A social worker explains how to go back and ask her directly, where to refer her, why boundaries protect the client as well as the lawyer, and how to recognise the early signs of vicarious trauma.

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

  • Portrait of Ashleigh Morris

    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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  • Portrait of Lauren Kreitner, Head of Partnerships & Operations, The Profession

    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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  • Portrait of Louise Miller, Managing Partner at Veritas Family Law

    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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