7.30 AM
Today I am working from home, so my alarm is set for 7.30 am. I get dressed then head out to meet a friend for a pre-work walk and coffee catch up. I'm back home by 8.30 am, make some breaky and start my day.
8.50 AM
The first thing I do when I sit at my desk is check up on any emails or Teams messages I may have missed from the day before and have a read of the news. I then look at my weekly to-do list and extract a few tasks that I'd like to work on for that day.
I am currently rotating through the Compensation Law team. The first task I do is draft answers to interrogatories (which is a fancy word for questions) that were asked by a plaintiff in a work injury matter. This requires me to review previous advice, our defence, and any discovered documents. I also keep a running list of any further information we may need from the client so I can send them a follow-up email. I then have a catch-up with my supervisor to get her up to speed with where I'm at. We bounce some ideas off each other and develop some strategies for how we can best answer the questions.
11.00 AM
I have a catch-up scheduled with a junior lawyer in my team, who wanted to see how I'm settling into the rotation. We of course debrief the Australian Open final and have a general social catch-up too! I then head back to work and smash out the interrogatories before lunch.
1.00 PM
I usually take a full hour for a lunch break, particularly when working from home! On Monday, Wednesday and Friday Lander & Rogers organises a free virtual Pilates class. It's Wednesday, so I log into the Zoom link and sweat it out for 45 mins, then make a quick lunch and cup of tea, and make my way back to my desk at 2.00 pm.
2.00 PM
Part of the work we do in Compensation Law is reviewing a plaintiff's medical records to gain a better understanding of their medical history (pre-and post-injury). I put my scientist hat on and summarise key medical reports, expert opinions, operation reports and clinical notes. I have a couple of questions while doing this, so give my supervising partner a call to clarify any points of confusion.
3.00 PM
I jump on a Teams call with a client at 3.00 pm, so I can witness them sign an affidavit. They ask a few questions about the next steps, but the meeting is otherwise pretty brief. It's always a good confidence builder and a bit of fun being one-on-one with a client! I write a quick file note about the call so we have a record of it saved to the file.
3.30 PM
At 3.30 pm a couple of afternoons a week, the grads catch up for 30 minutes. This definitely helps break up the day while we are working remotely and is a great time to hang out with the other grads and hear what everyone is up to. And we discuss the latest episode of Euphoria, of course.
4.00 PM
I spend the rest of my afternoon finishing reviewing medical documents and summarising my key findings in a table. There's a seasonal clerk in my team at the moment, so I give her a call to make sure she's settling in ok. I tick some tasks off my to-do list, close down all my documents and log off for the day.
5.30 PM
I usually finish work around 5.30 pm, and chill on the couch, scroll through socials and watch some Gossip Girl re-runs. I usually have a flick through some cookbooks to decide what to make for dinner and then walk to my local grocery store to collect some ingredients. My partner and I crank up some tunes and spend an hour or so prepping dinner in the kitchen. We then meet a couple of mates for post-dinner ice cream at Messina.
9.30 PM
My day always ends with some TV bingeing on the couch. Reality TV is my after-work outlet, so I plonk on the couch with a cup of tea, some chocolate, and catch up on the latest episode of Below Deck. I then hop into bed and am usually out cold straight away!