Sarah Matheson – March 2004
It's
very exciting to be involved in areas that affect the general community and the commercial
world.
When Sarah Matheson went 'against her heart' and chose a legal career over life as a ballerina, she looked for an area in which the subject matter is creative.
After stints in personal injuries and construction litigation, she chose intellectual property and says the 'incredibly varied' IP subject matter more than holds her interest.
'In IP, you deal with innovation. You work out how to protect and exploit the new ideas of your clients,' she says.
'It's very exciting to be involved in areas that affect the general community and the commercial world.
'You really have to exercise your mind. Although you build on past experience, there are constant challenges in the work in understanding different technologies and industries.'
Sarah completed her articles at Sly & Weigall (now Deacons) in 1993, after graduating with an arts/law degree from Melbourne University, and joined Allens Arthur Robinson in 1995 because she wanted to practise in IP, which she now does in Allens Intellectual Property, Communications and Technology department.
She became a partner in Allens Melbourne office in 2001 and specialises in pharmaceutical patent litigation. Sarah enjoys this work because it has a connection with the 'real world'.
The work also gives her the opportunity to learn about different technologies and to meet a wide range of people.
'For litigation, you need independent expert witnesses. You meet dynamic, interesting people who specialise in their field.'
One of the early highlights in Sarah's career was when she successfully applied for an Anton Piller order in a case for Tupperware. An Anton Piller order is an ex parte interlocutory mandatory injunction that compels a defendant to permit the plaintiff to inspect the defendant's premises to seize material relevant to the plaintiff's case that otherwise is at risk of destruction or removal.
'I was quite a junior lawyer but I got to really run with it. While getting the order provided an enormous sense of achievement, it was also a stark reminder of the power that the court has over business and ordinary people.' Sarah says.
Another highlight in Sarah's career is the current work she does for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. As the work involves global litigation, Sarah and the team she works with are in regular contact with lawyers in other jurisdictions, particularly the UK and US.
'You really feel that you are part of something that has a lot of momentum and that is very important to the client,' she says.
Sarah believes that achieving a work-life balance is an issue for many lawyers but that it has an added relevance for female partners and solicitors.
'If you want to have children, it's not just achieving your own personal balance but achieving it from the wider perspective of a family. This can be a challenge to achieve with your (non-law) partner, let alone with children.'
Sarah is also interested in pro bono legal work and is a member of Allens national pro bono committee, and the Allens representative on the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) board of management in Victoria.
Sarah has also recently joined Deakin University's academic advisory review board.
Sarah makes time for her hobbies, which include attending the ballet and theatre, fine food and wine, travelling, and going to the movies. Although she took up ballroom dancing after finishing ballet, Sarah no longer dances and has settled on Pilates as her exercise of choice.
Sarah advises young lawyers to keep an open mind about what they want to do in their career.
'There is a gap between academic study and commercial and legal practice, which people are not necessarily prepared for when they leave university. Fixed ideas about areas of interest may change!'
Sarah also believes that lawyers must have a sound work ethic and be dedicated to their clients if they want to succeed.
'There's hard work,' she says. 'But you can also have an enormous amount of intellectual satisfaction and a lot of fun along the way.'
