FAILURE IS YOUR FRIEND – MY GROWTH AS A FAMILY LAWYER I disputed the outcome because I believed Dan Meagher’s rants on gay marriage and cigarette packaging were irrelevant and therefore did not prepare me for the exam. Hilariously, my dispute outcome reduced my final mark by 3 marks to 41. I was of course disappointed to receive this mark and felt inferior to my peers. I queried whether I had the intellect to graduate or the capacity to endure a further 3 years of studies (not to mention Consti for a second time!!) After a few weeks of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to reflect on my study techniques. I thought about reading key cases in textbooks, as opposed to copying and pasting lecture slides. I considered listening to every lecture instead of relying upon my classmate’s comments or lecture notes. I even experienced the grief of turning down a Juggernauts function to conduct some late-night case research on the Deakin research database. I did not want to let the glaring ‘N’ on my transcript curtail my confidence. I instead opted to be resilient and take failure as a learning experience.
Rohan Kelly COOTE FAMILY LAWYERS As law students and lawyers – we are perfectionists and overthinkers. We analyse every situation we get ourselves into in great detail, whether it be work, an exam question or a conflict in our personal life. We like structure and predictability, and when an unexpected or unwanted circumstance occurs, this will often send us into hyperspace. My article focuses on failure and my sincere experience at dealing with it. First and foremost, failure is not the end of your degree or your legal career. As a law student, I want to reassure you that someone will employ you, and if that firm does not see your potential, another firm will. Failure is an opportunity for resilience and perseverance, and I hope that after you have read this article you approach failure with an attitude that will provide you with further (and greater) opportunities. I am currently employed as an Associate at Coote Family Lawyers. If you have a keen interest in the Australian family law industry, you will know that Coote Family Lawyers is a specialist firm that is recognised as a ‘Preeminent’ or ‘First Tier’ family law firm in Victoria. The purpose of me gloating about my firm is not to boost my ego, but rather, to assure you that I was not a student with a First-Class Honours average or a clerkship at King & Wood Mallesons to get to this position. If anything, I was the opposite of that. Failure and University I remember the first time I failed a unit at Deakin - it was the unsurprising and unforgiving unit of Constitutional Law. I got a 44.
My self-imposed discipline from my failure boosted my WAM of a 58 at the conclusion of 2013 to a 70 upon my graduation in 2016. For that, I have to thank my 80 mark in Constitutional Law during my second attempt…thank you Dan, I now understand the relationship between gay marriage, cigarette packaging and the Australian Constitution.
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The takeaway from this anecdote for law students is that if you do fail – push on. Your dream as a lawyer is not dead and you can still graduate in your expected timeframe. Failure is the time to reflect on your study techniques and carefully think about what you can do better.