Q&A: Terri Janke – "We are seeing many more indigenous graduates who are practising law. It's exciting"

In our latest Q&A, Terri Janke, founder of her eponymous firm Terri Janke & Company, discusses her role as an indigenous intellectual property trailblazer, the importance of diversity in workplaces and the joy of writing fiction.

Since launching 16 years ago, your firm has established a strong reputation for its expertise on indigenous cultural and intellectual property. How have things changed since you opened your doors?

“When I first started, people thought I was mad – that there would be no clients. I had one, which helped me make the decision, but it definitely was a rocky road. I always wanted to work in indigenous IP and substantially for an indigenous client base. We’ve been at the forefront as recognition has grown that indigenous people have intellectual property rights.”

In an increasingly competitive legal services space, it seems that as an indigenous lawyer you have carved out a strong niche.

“That’s right. Why do people choose us? Well, it’s an area in which indigenous clients want to trust you and know that you have an understanding of what it’s like for them. So people really bring us along for the journey. Also, organisations and businesses that want to work with indigenous people come to us for that understanding. Really, though, we can handle all IP and commercial law clients. We have clients who are not indigenous, but the indigenous legal work has been a really strong point for us.”

After graduating from law school, what inspired you to specialise in indigenous IP?

“As someone who is a strong advocate for indigenous social justice, you might think that I’d be working in human rights, native title or perhaps the criminal justice system. But I found, especially with the criminal justice system, that they were very negative areas of law in which to work and I wondered how I could make a difference. But when I learned about copyright, and given that I had been involved in the indigenous arts and cultural sector, I thought ‘well, this is all about reclamation and assertions of indigenous identity and cultural assets’. Taking that and then using IP to interpret the gaps in the law and advance the interests of indigenous people while considering cultural and moral rights, I just found that really inspiring. I work mainly in copyright and I’ve seen how there has been a shift from indigenous art being seen as folklore in the public domain to now having copyright recognition.”

So you don’t regret turning your back on criminal law?

“Of course, you still need lawyers to work in that area, but for me it was something that challenged me a lot as I went through law school 22 years ago. It’s much different today and the Law Council of Australia has backed many initiatives to encourage more diverse legal practice. There were only a handful of practising solicitors and barristers at the time who were indigenous. We still struggle with numbers, but there are a lot more and we’ve come a long way.”

You were the first recipient of the Law Council’s John Koowarta Law Scholarship two decades ago, which helped you complete your studies at the University of New South Wales and the New South Wales College of Law. Are you encouraged by the indigenous talent entering the profession today?

“You see the people coming through and, my God, they’re so much more diverse and talented than was the case 20 years ago when that award was set up. The awareness of indigenous lawyers and what they can do in the legal profession is so much wider now.”

What is the next barrier for indigenous lawyers to overcome?

“We’ve seen a lot of indigenous lawyers come through university, but we’re only just seeing them now going and working at the large firms in M&A and trade practices, or working as practising solicitors. In the past there were a lot of indigenous graduates who went into government or academia, or it was the degree that indigenous managers did, but now we are seeing many more who are practising law. It’s exciting.”

What can mainstream firms do to encourage indigenous talent?

“They’re going to have to be more flexible with their culture because it can be fairly alienating for many indigenous graduates. We will see in the next few years some indigenous partners, but firms need to look at their pathways for indigenous lawyers. At least some indigenous lawyers are now getting up past the five-year mark, but not many are moving into associate or partnership roles, so firms must examine how they can champion those things.”

You were named the NAIDOC* Person of the Year in 2011. How gratifying was that?

“It was a great honour to be recognised by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A lot of people wrote to me and said ‘you know, you’ve really made changes to indigenous people’s relationship with law. You have helped us assert our rights or negotiate business things’. I just thought that people had recognised the firm for concentrating on indigenous legal issues and IP, so that was amazing.”

It was recently announced that your firm has entered into a partnership with another firm, Proximity, that allows you both to win work through the Commonwealth Government’s Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP), which is designed to encourage indigenous business. Tell us about that.

“Proximity has a strong track record for providing legal services to government. Working in an alliance with them, we hope to build our capacity, our skills and team. In that way, the partnership will be mutually beneficial. The IPP is a government initiative to integrate indigenous suppliers into Commonwealth procurement, and there is a target of 3 per cent by 2020. It’s been a very positive policy. I see a lot of indigenous businesses setting up and other ones growing – my firm is an example of that – and if it’s done right it really grows the capacity of indigenous business. So it really has potential and indigenous businesses are 100 times more likely to employ indigenous people and businesses.”

Tell us about the culture of your firm?

“It’s a very transparent workplace and everybody sees where they fit into what we do. The clients like the fact that we can talk to them and that we have an understanding of the indigenous business sector. With our culture, we don’t try to be the firm where there’s all this mystery around the law. We want to really empower our clients, so we’ll spend a lot of time trying to give them the tools to help them move forward. It’s a solution-based practice, but we are trying to give that person independence around risk management and how they think. Our solicitors are really passionate and we know that we can deliver the law, but we also want to make a difference by ensuring our clients have the confidence to stay in business.”

Collaboration seems to be at the heart of what you do.

“Yes, the culture is very collaborative and everyone is very diligent, even from the young people who are working in administration roles. They are not just taking file notes; they also come to meetings and have a say and learn new things. We also have a flexible workplace. Increasingly, people want flexibility and they don’t all want to work in town anymore either in these big high-rise buildings. That’s a real shift for the profession.”

Outside the law you are also a novelist, having written a book called Butterfly Song. What is the plot?

“It’s a book about a Torres Strait Islander who finishes a law degree, so I could draw lot from first-hand experience. I love writing novels and writing creatively. I always have and I hope I can get back to it again. I was able to write the novel and wanted to get that story out there because it had parallels to my work. The law student has to run a case and bring evidence to reclaim a butterfly broach that’s been taken out of a family. It’s fictional but I could draw on a lot of legal analogies. I like the way that writing and stories can transfer knowledge or confidence or personal empowerment and identity and leave a legacy as a story. Obviously, telling stories is one way that indigenous people have been doing it for years, but through writing it becomes part of that transition of culture.”

www.terrijanke.com.au

* NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.