Eleanor Madden

Trainee Solicitor

My name is Eleanor Madden and I graduated from my Arts (French)/Law (Hons) degree at Melbourne University.

I found my first year of law school extremely overwhelming- so much to learn, so many egos, so little time. Having doubts about my long term interest in the law, I decided to take my second year off uni to get some breathing room.

The turning point of my legal career occurred was when I took a job at Wisewoulds as a legal assistant during this gap year. Within a few short months I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, that I’d go back to law school the following year to finish my degree (cue parental relief!) and that Wisewoulds was where I wanted to practice after graduation. I returned to law school with a spring in my step, and my passion for law has only grown ever since.

Wisewoulds is a place where life and law can co-exist; you’re encouraged to simultaneously be yourself and produce outstanding work. I have been extremely lucky to make several ongoing professional mentors, not to mention lifelong friends, in my (flexible!) employment at the firm since 2004. These people and their approach to legal (and social) practice, is why my application for traineeship here was a no-brainer.

My first three weeks on the job have only re-confirmed my respect for the firm and its investment in young lawyers- I’ve appeared in court, attended client meetings, drafted court documents, conducted research and been asked my opinion by senior practitioners as to how an area of law will apply to a client’s life. All of this occurred in a friendly environment where I wasn’t scared to have a go or ask for help.

The areas of law I particularly enjoyed at uni were Family, Contracts and Evidence- an intersection of complex factual scenarios and legal structure is what gets me going. I’m keen to try out as many areas of law as I can during my traineeship, and considering I’ve already worked on Family, Criminal, Wills, Property, WorkCover, Employment, and Contracts matters in my first three weeks, I’m pretty confident I’ll get the breadth and depth of experience I’m after.