Melanie Quixley shares how she helped a client to feel like she 'finally had a voice'

The Barry Nilsson principal pushed back against family pressure in her pursuit of law

Melanie Quixley shares how she helped a client to feel like she 'finally had a voice'

Melanie Quixley’s love of language, public speaking and persuasive writing attracted her to a career in law, bucking pressure from her family to go into commerce instead.

The Barry Nilsson insurance and health principal went into litigation, and has experienced the joy of helping a client to see the important role lawyers can play in fighting for justice. In the first half of this December 2024 interview, Quixley shares the details of that matter and tells Australasian Lawyer what she loves about litigation.

What made you choose a career in law, and what's your favourite part of the job?

I wish I had a great story about why I chose law, but I just always enjoyed persuasive writing and public speaking, and I loved language, so law seemed the right combination of those (and avoided ceding to family pressure to study commerce!)

I really enjoy the problem-solving aspect of litigation – there’s a factual puzzle which you need to fit within the law to find the right outcome in a claim but with the added challenge that you also have to work out the facts and prove them. The beauty of working in insurance litigation is that every file is different, you’re always learning new things.

What was an important matter you handled in the last year or so?

This year my team and I assisted a vulnerable person with litigation, having been approached by the court to assist her, on a pro bono basis. Whilst the outcome might not have been what we had hoped, we were very proud that our client felt that she finally had a voice through us, she was able to see the valuable role that lawyers can play in fighting for justice, that it is in fact a profession worth being part of and to re-inspire her to pursue a career in law assisting others in her situation and motivate for change.

What are you looking forward to the most in the coming year?

This year I’ve been the president of the Board of Directors of the Australian Insurance Law Association which is Australia’s largest provider of insurance education and is a volunteer organisation. Being able to work with a fantastic group of people from all aspects of the insurance industry to create a vision and plan for a sustainable, vibrant and successful organisation has been a challenge but also a privilege and I’m so proud of the work that we do and how we do it.

I am really looking forward to putting all that planning into action in the next 12 months for our members and the industry.

If you weren’t in law, what do you think you’d be doing as a career?

I love design, so something to do with interiors and art. And if it also something managed to incorporate a bookstore, that would pretty much be perfect.