Meet Jeremy Brown, a lawyer in our Litigation team in Melbourne. We asked him to tell us more about his practice, ABL and our culture. See what he said below.
What drew you to work at Arnold Bloch Leibler?
I was drawn to work at ABL by the nature of the disputes and the calibre of the lawyers. ABL gives you a unique opportunity to work among market leading practitioners and on matters that are at the absolute cutting edge. A core part of our day-to-day practice is finding solutions to problems that – legally or commercially – may be completely novel. This means that juniors get incredible exposure to how leading practitioners understand and develop matters strategically, and how they then implement solutions.
What kind of work do you do and what makes it interesting?
Like all ABL lawyers, I operate across a broad spectrum of matters, with a current focus on commercial and regulatory litigation. On any given day I could be assisting with a regulatory inquiry, an APRA penalty proceeding, Supreme Court proceedings regarding the construction of a trust instrument, advice to a client on how to protect and recoup assets in a fraud situation, or strategy in human rights litigation.
Can you tell us about a standout matter you’ve worked on recently?
The most exciting and dynamic matter I’ve worked on this year is the National Basketball League (NBL) litigation. The NBL is celebrating its tenth year since being acquired by Larry Kestelman – often described as Australian basketball’s white knight. The NBL is now one of Australia’s premier sports leagues and among the most successful basketball leagues in the world after the NBA.
We have been assisting the NBL in a highly publicised dispute with one of its clubs. This matter has provided me with an incredible opportunity to work closely with a fantastic client, as well as some of the country’s leading barristers.
How does the team develop talent?
Perhaps the best way that ABL develops talent (and a way that is unique to ABL at this end of the market) is to get juniors in the room where the action is happening almost immediately. This can mean anything from instructing senior counsel in a hearing, sitting in a partner’s office to unpack and determine strategy, being an active part of conferences with counsel, or being the person to pick up the phone to get instructions from the client. I had all of these opportunities within my first six months at ABL. In my experience, there is no better learning experience than being in the room and being involved as the matter plays out in real time.
Being a junior at ABL also means that you gain the benefit of going through the supervised legal training program which teaches juniors ABL’s institutional knowledge. In many respects it is what differentiates an ABL junior from other lawyers in the market. The program is a chance to sit down with partners and senior associates from across the firm and get their practical and strategic insights into the areas that they practice every day. Essentially, you get the ABL tricks of the trade from the most experienced and prominent practitioners in their respective fields.
What’s distinctive about ABL’s litigation practice compared with other firms?
I think the distinguishing factor about ABL’s litigation practice is our outcome-oriented approach, and then our willingness to think outside the box and use various levers to achieve that outcome. Often this means acting very quickly and ensuring that you don’t miss a key moment to gain an advantage and resolve the matter favourably. The department’s structure reflects this intention. We prefer to run small, lean teams (often only one partner and one or two juniors) with every member of the team being closely involved in the matter. This means that you minimise the time required to bring people up to speed when an opportunity presents itself, allowing us to be incredibly agile and creative.
Can you describe the culture in three words and what sits behind them?
Collegiate
While we typically work in small teams, there is an appreciation among all juniors that the work we are doing is often in uncharted territory. Because of this, we have a culture where you frequently find yourself going to your colleagues to see how they would approach a problem, or to pick out things that you may have overlooked. In my experience – particularly as a graduate – this made a huge difference as you always felt comfortable to knock on a senior associate’s office door and ask what felt like an obvious or silly procedural question or get an insight into the questions that they would be asking themselves were they in your shoes.
Daring
One of the things that I enjoy most about ABL is the sense that all problems are solvable (even if you have to be slightly creative), and that clients have come to ABL for exactly that mindset. It gives you the freedom to think creatively and identify legal and commercial points of leverage that other firms may not be positioned to explore.
Dynamic
Ultimately the best part of being a litigator at ABL is getting to be in the room in critical moments. There is a sense that when we are called in to manage a crisis or act on short notice in urgent proceedings, the team locks in and executes. To be part of a team that is operating at the peak of the market in a crucial moment is an amazing learning opportunity – it’s also good fun.
