Wellbeing & Resilience: An interview with Jessica Teoh, SA Branch President of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association

An interview with Jessica Teoh, SA Branch President of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association

EDWIN FAH, JOHNSON WINTER & SLATTERY

Wellbeing & Resilience Committee member Edwin Fah sits down with Jessica Teoh, the inaugural President of the SA Branch of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association, to talk about the purpose of ALLA and why culturally focused support groups are still needed.

Edwin Fah: You’re a Director of a major corporate and commercial law firm in this city, you’re Asian, and female. That’s quite rare. How did you get here? Jessica Teoh: My career to date has been rather conventional. As a final year law student I was lucky enough to obtain a clerkship at Johnson Winter & Slattery. After that, I stayed on as a graduate, then became an Associate. After a few years, an opportunity arose to join Laity Morrow, and I’ve been here for the past eight years, the last three as a Director.

EF: When you joined Laity Morrow you didn’t just change firms though, you also changed practice areas. JT: Yes, I did. My career to that point was spent in litigation and in employment work, and I wanted a change. The adversarial nature of litigation can wear you down, and I wasn’t sure it was for me. I wanted to work more collaboratively, so took the opportunity, when I changed firms, to essentially re-invent myself as a transactional lawyer. EF: That’s a fairly drastic change. Do you have any regrets?

JT: It definitely wasn’t easy at first! But no, I’m glad I did it. The work I do is fulfilling, and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work with the fantastic clients I work with every day if I hadn’t taken that chance all those years ago. EF: You’re the inaugural SA Branch President of AALA. Tell us about AALA and why you decided to get involved. JT: AALA’s objective is to promote cultural diversity in the law. Our membership covers university students through to principals of law firms, so it is, at its base, a support network. When I was a law student, and then a junior lawyer, there weren’t groups like AALA, and I wish there were. Two years ago I was approached by some AALA National Executive members to see if there was interest in setting up an SA Branch of AALA. I had been made Director at Laity Morrow the year before, and I felt I was in a position to give back to my community, and if not now, then when? The AALA Executive members had also contacted my friend Brian Vuong (who is a Director at Kain Lawyers) who was keen to be involved too, and we then started cold calling our contacts. Innumerable coffees later, we had a handful of people who were keen to be involved, and those people formed the first SA Branch Committee of AALA. Two years later, they remain the core of the SA Branch Committee.

EF: There are two main things AALA in SA is known for, and that is your mentoring programme, and that you put on great social events. JT: We realised very early on that you cannot promote cultural diversity in the law if you have no constituents, and it is no secret that we as a profession have a problem with retention of lawyers, especially junior lawyers (whether they be Asian Australian lawyers or not). One of the things that causes people to leave the profession is a lack of support and, at the more junior levels, a lack of mentoring and guidance. So we decided to focus on our mentoring programme, and to try to make it unique. EF: How is AALA’s mentoring programme unique?

JT: Well, firstly, it provides an opportunity for Asian Australian lawyers to be mentored by other Asian Australian lawyers. The feedback we have consistently received from the programme’s participants is that being able to speak with someone that looks like you, that might have a similar background to you, has likely gone through similar challenges to you, provides a level of comfort that they wouldn’t otherwise get. That comfort allows mentees to open up more, to step outside the “protection mode” they are

Jessica Teoh

usually in, and to be more forthright about their concerns. The second thing is that we encourage people to be both mentors and mentees at the same time. No matter what experience level you have, you have something you can teach to those less experienced than you. For example, first year graduates have a lot of knowledge they can pass on to university students about how to navigate clerkship applications, interviews etc. EF: And the social events?

JT: Everyone loves a good party, and I think in the two years that the SA Branch of AALA has been in existence, we have put on some pretty good events. Our launch party in early 2021 was a real watershed moment for me. I had never seen so many Asian Australian lawyers together in the same place before, and it showed me that there is a community out there that needs, but importantly, wants, a galvanising group like AALA. In addition, especially in the corporate and commercial environment, networking is a necessary skill we all must develop. The fact is that, save for AALA events, in every professional networking event that I go to, I am a minority, and that can be daunting, which I especially felt when I was a junior lawyer. AALA networking events remove that issue, and provide a very safe environment where people can develop and practice their networking skills and be more themselves. And when you’re not trying so hard, and can be yourself, networking becomes easier. EF: So, what’s next? JT: There is still a long way to go. There is still a lot of casual or “ignorant” racism in the community. I have experienced it myself and heard about others’ experiences in my role as SA Branch President, and so long as it is still out there, there will be a need for groups such as AALA. EF: That sounds like the topic of our next interview. How about you personally? JT: We’re going to need a lot more articles to cover those issues! For me, I want to continue embracing the leadership role I find myself in. In my experience, most Asian Australians, lawyers, me included, don’t enjoy the spotlight, but people in my position need to be visible, we need to embrace being leaders and role models for our communities and to set an example for the next generation of Asian Australian lawyers so maybe in the future AALA will not be as necessary as it is now.

EF: Thanks for your time Jess, this has certainly been an enlightening and, frankly, inspiring conversation with you. I wish you and AALA all the best, and look forward to the next AALA event.

JT: I look forward to seeing you at our next event!

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