Q&A: Jennifer Harris – "Mentoring gives you that lovely invitation to have those conversations and really build powerful relationships"

In this Q&A, Clayton Utz Special Counsel Jennifer Harris, named Mentor of the Year at the 2016 Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards, discusses how mentoring has played an enormous role in her career; why it can bring a sense of humanity and increased productivity to your law firm; and how listening is crucial for mentors and leaders.

Mentor of the Year is a wonderful title, isn’t it?

“It is – I can feel the significance of it. This is not something I would have nominated myself for. It was a wonderful thrill to be nominated for starters, but to actually win it was phenomenal. It’s a real honour and a privilege to be rewarded for something that has also made my career infinitely better than I ever expected it to be.”

Why has mentoring been so significant to your career? Do you like interaction and supporting other lawyers?

“I’m 43 now and, as I’ve grown in my career, especially in private practice, being a lawyer has become a very people-centric business. I’m a transactional lawyer, so I’m strongly aware that relationships and collaboration are vital to my practice, and also to the building of teams and the development of people to work in our business. At different times in my career I have desperately needed people to support me and I haven’t had them. Then when I found them and tapped into the difference having a mentor can make, I just knew that the minute I was able to I was going to try to do it for someone else.”

Is it something led by you or part of a firm-wide culture of mentoring?

“It started off small for me at Clayton Utz, with me mentoring informally. Then word got around and I was approached to do it formally through different programs we have here that support mentoring. So it’s a mixture of both and I find that mentoring is very fluid; people either gravitate to you when they need you, or you notice they need something and you can point out what they may need and leave it to them. In those informal ways, relationships develop.”

Is mentoring becoming a more common thing in law firms?

“Certainly. I think it’s a wonderful trend and I hope it continues because it allows people to bring humanity into the workforce – people want to talk about themselves; people want to hear that others have the same successes and failures; people want to hear that you don’t get it right the first time. Whether you mentor formally or informally, it gives you that lovely invitation to have those conversations and really build powerful relationships. I think that’s why everybody likes it – it’s certainly why I like it.”

What are some of the mentoring structures and programs you have in place within Clayton Utz?

“We have a very strong culture of mentoring here as part of our career development program. It’s also a key component of a number of other policies, including diversity and flexibility. The mentoring programs are structured to support people to be true to themselves and follow their own career path. There’s no one way to do things – we’ve got a really diverse workforce with many varied people, interests and cultures. Mentoring helps our people feel comfortable with who they are and what they want out of their careers. We have three key structured programs, and they’re all national. We’ve got programs for senior associates and special counsel who all get matched with partners – and they’re all mentee-led, so if you’re a mentor you’re not chasing your mentee telling them when to see you. The mentees lead it so they become responsible for the relationship, and there is real power in that. Then we’ve got the national lawyer mentoring program, which is for all lawyers from first-year lawyers to senior lawyers, and they typically get matched with a senior associate or a special counsel. Then we’ve also got the shared services mentoring program, which is for  our shared services employees.”

What are the benefits of such programs?

“The firm has recognised that it’s the key to retaining and developing our staff and also developing potential leaders and creating relationships across the firm. It enables people to be more productive because they feel more motivated and supported. One of the things that I really love is that it encourages a culture of collaboration – law firms can be isolating, but it does really create a platform for collaboration. It also allows people to understand that we want you to be happy and valued and supported when you’re working for us.”

Do the subjects you discuss during mentoring cover issues related to the law, or is it much wider than that?

“When you’re mentoring junior lawyers, sometimes they want to discuss technical issues. I find that a bit different to mentoring, but I certainly mentor them on the skills they need. I do mentoring for young lawyers where I’m teaching them about the basics of managing matters, and giving them the tools they need to shine. It can involve putting them in touch with the right person. Another big part of the mentoring I do is with senior women and men who are working flexibly to raise their families. That’s a very richly layered type of mentoring because it spans the chasm of expectations and frustrations on the personal and professional front. So that has to be really tailored to every individual and it’s driven by what they need to give them the support they need to meet challenges personally and in their careers.”

What do you say to people in those circumstances?

“I’m very honest with people about the toll that pressures can take on your mental health and I find that people value this honesty. I took a back seat from mentoring formally when my own children were very young. As you step back into mentoring to relay your own experiences and how you juggled things, I find that being honest gives people the space they need to understand that balance doesn’t happen at a particular time. The main challenge is to have the support you need at the time when work pulls on you and brings you to your knees.”

Who have been your mentors?

“Gary Best, one of the partners I work with here in our real estate team, has an amazing real estate/property development practice and he has taught me so much about the work that I do today Another mentor of mine is one who encouraged me to take a calculated risk, jumping from my long career in mid-tier firms to work with Gary at Clayton Utz when I had one-year-old twins and was working part time. Her name is Meaghan Walsh and she’s been a colleague and a client, which is great. My sister, Emma Harris, is an ex-lawyer and she’s currently a counsellor and she is also an influential mentor to me. Another important mentor is Claire Vigil. She’s the deputy head of legal for property projects at Lendlease,  but she used to work at Clayton Utz, and she’s mentoring me on strategic business development aspects of my career, which continues to be a work in progress. I feel very lucky to have each  of these mentors for different reasons at different times.”

What led you to specialise in real estate law?

“I had followed Gary Best’s career for a long time as he was someone doing incredible work and I identified his urban renewal projects, especially for the public sector, as something I really wanted to do. What I love about it is it gives you such an insight into cultural, social and personal imperatives which underpin how people want to live and work. The urban renewal work we do is about breathing life into something – and mentoring’s a bit like that, too. I help people tap into opportunities and create something better for themselves. The place-making projects I love as well because again they are about a commitment to the future and the creation of opportunities. Another key piece of my practice is pro bono work – we have so many opportunities at Clayton Utz to do pro bono work and I’ve got some very special relationships with pro bono clients and I love seeing how our work can help vulnerable people.”

You have been surrounded by some excellent leaders over the years. What makes a good leader?

“I think good leaders need to understand that it is not mandatory to have a stressful life in this industry. We really have to tap into that as leaders. One of my mentors once told me that leaders who listen achieve breakthroughs. I’ve always remembered that. We need our people to do our business well and that takes commitment and effort and connection. It’s about making sure that anyone who feels they have a barrier to happiness or feeling valued at work knows there is somebody they can talk to who has trodden down the same path and is willing to listen and support.”

Do you have any final specific mentoring tips?

“To be a good mentor you’ve got to be present, committed and engaged and you have to work on building relationships. Then, in return, you get to have very meaningful conversations with people and help them build their career, as well as reflect on your own. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to reflect because I’m often talking about my career and the people I mentor don’t know that I  get enormous rewards from doing that unless I tell them. You must let your mentees know you are getting something significant from the relationship so they don’t feel like they might be wasting your time. It’s about creating a bond of respect and empowerment. You’ll know it’s worked well when your mentees go on and become mentors themselves.  Mentoring can enrich your career and contribute to your success and happiness. It’s really worth the time it takes.”

Jennifer Harris is Special Counsel, Real Estate at Clayton Utz. She has been in this role since 2010, and specialises in providing clients with strategic and commercial advice relating to their business and risks. She specialises in local government transactions and governance, procurement and probity issues as they apply in the public sector, and has substantial experience advising the public sector on strategic real estate issues. Jennifer has particular expertise in large-scale urban renewal projects.

www.claytonutz.com