Carmel Mulhern, Group General Counsel at Telstra
Jacinta Fish and Carmel Mulhern
What attracted you to a career in the law?
Well that takes me back a few years! I looked at the things I loved. Words, English, reading, public speaking. I wanted to make a difference. I tossed up between law and physio and clearly law. I think I made the right decision
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I work with a great team and every day is a great challenge. There is so much I love about my role. I enjoy the breadth of the legal issues – it is incredibly broad. From doing M&A to dealing with regulators, customer issues or a broken pit. It’s broader perhaps than most law firms.
I love having a seat at the table and taking part in the strategy of the business. As the Company Secretary I have greater visibility, and as the General Counsel have accountability.
What are you most proud of in your career? What’s your greatest accomplishment?
That’s a hard one. I’m pretty proud of what we did in the first NBN transaction. It was really, really hard and at a time when, as a company, we had fallen out with all our stakeholders – shareholders, government, regulators and customers. It was hard work and to be able to contribute and have it finally approved was amazing! In fact, I think I started to cry when I told the whole team. There was so much blood, sweat, passion (and tears).
What advice would you have for lawyers interested in working in-house?
There are a couple of things you want to try. A secondment or two is a great way of working out whether you are suited to an in-house role. I would also advise young lawyers to get as much external experience before going in-house. They will get more out of the role and find practice easier if they are a more experienced lawyer when they make the move in-house.
What big changes do you think the industry can expect to see over the next 5 years?
I wish I had a crystal ball. If I looked back 5 years I would never predicted the landscape of the law firms now. There have been big changes and there will be plenty more to come. It will be interesting to see how well they cope with change. The push for legal process outsourcing for example. They need to be more agile & make decisions in new areas of law that might not even exist now. The practice is changing and they will need to work in areas they’ve never worked in before. Who would have thought e-health would be an area we are focussing on. The law is changing rapidly in areas never seen before. It’s a huge change and it will mean law is practised in a different way. I think law will be commoditised and the mark will need to respond to this.
Who or what has been your greatest career inspiration?
I was an Associate to Justice Mary Gaudron who is the first female judge of the High Court. She was inspirational and had an amazing mind. She could just quote a phrase from out of a case just like that. But there was more to her than just her amazing intellect. She had a great outlook on life. She had fun and was fun as well as being a superior lawyer. But she also had courage, grace and leadership. She was the first women at NSW Bar – that would not have been an easy place to be in those days yet she navigated her way through it with class and set such a strong example to not only female lawyers but all lawyers. She is definitely the person who has inspired me most.
And lastly, a fun one, all-time favourite law show?
Definitely LA Law. I watched it religiously and loved it. I wanted to be just like Grace in her beautiful suits.
(Just quietly, so did we!)