This is Allens

I knew quite early on what I wanted to do. When I was in the final years of school and thinking about university, I knew I wanted to study law. When I thought about what to combine law with, business really appealed to me. I remember scrolling through the website of a large firm and looking at the M&A section and the deals and thinking 'well hang on, this sounds very good'. From then on I was very targeted in how I went about gaining the right experience, both in Australia and internationally.

I am really driven by being involved in the most unusual and complex transactions and working on those transactions alongside some of the brightest, hardest working people in our field. The corporate transactions we help our clients with often have the potential to create jobs and drive economic growth. I have also done work with early stage businesses that have grown to become large employers and successful businesses.

We work in teams and it's critical, in my view, that as leaders and future leaders of the firm we foster an environment that people want to work in, and are comfortable sharing perspectives and views without fear of getting it wrong. Culture is hugely important. I've always enjoyed the mentoring aspect of the job and equally I've been the beneficiary of some great mentoring from senior colleagues over the years. I think paying that forward is a big part of the job.

In addition to being a new partner, I am a new father. I recently took parental leave to spend time with my wife Rebecca and new daughter Gigi. I am so grateful for the support of the firm and the team in doing that. The ongoing support has been crucial to being able to do this job.