The Kain Lawyers director touches on the privilege lawyers have and why giving back is important
Earlier this week, James Tannock told Australasian Lawyer about his six-month stint as a full-time dad. In the second part of this interview, the Kain Lawyers director discusses the new tech he’s getting into and helping the youth through his work with the Kain Foundation.
I love Kain’s commitment to the community. Helping out is part of the fabric here. I think it’s really important to recognise how privileged we are as lawyers and to take some time to try and help out others who may not be so fortunate. The Kain Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organisation with a focus on helping young people (both here in Australia and internationally). Everyone at Kain contributes financially and everyone does something to help further the goals of the Kain Foundation – whether it’s mentoring high school students or travelling to Uganda to help kids and their communities with various land care initiatives.
There is a real buzz at the firm generally and it’s an exciting place to be. There are lots of social occasions and, notwithstanding its growing national footprint (the Sydney office was established in 2021 and the Melbourne office in 2024), there’s a one-firm mentality where everyone is happy to help everyone else and everyone genuinely does their best to live the values of the firm: integrity, care, accountability, respect and excellence.
As part of its commitment to excellence, the firm has an impressive custom-designed learning and knowledge program, known as the Kain Academy, which gives all lawyers the opportunity to efficiently and effectively build their knowledge and experience. All lawyers take part. It includes the “Transactions Pro” training program (a structured program based on emulating a real transaction process), a range of technical skills workshops focussed on our core areas of expertise (M&A, ECM, DCM, capital structuring, transaction disputes, and property) and regular updates on any relevant legislative changes.
The firm is focussed on ensuring we have access to best-in-class systems and computing infrastructure that is efficient, stable and secure. No-one wants to lose hours of work due to lost connectivity or clunky software or to be subject to scams or malware. We also like to be able to work from wherever we happen to be. The firm has just rolled out new laptops and I’m (sadly) particularly into the face recognition rather than password login!
The firm is committed to growing sustainably in Sydney and Melbourne by continuing to work with our great current (and future) clients who are doing interesting and exciting work and by attracting the best legal talent to join the team. In an increasingly competitive recruitment market it can be a challenge to continue to attract excellent lawyers. However, I think this is where Kain can be at its best. The firm provides an elusive balance between doing exciting premium mid-market transactional work for great clients and working somewhere where everyone on the team is genuinely valued.
A general challenge in the industry is to manage real life and work life. It can be particularly daunting as a younger lawyer. As transactional lawyers we all kind of love the thrill of being caught up in the deal and the workload often takes a huge amount of our time and energy – but it is important to acknowledge that down time and mental health are critical. Exercising, eating properly, sleeping and being with your family and friends are all important for mental and physical health and to ensure you’re ready and able to do your best work.
