Melissa Lyon is an Associate Principal at Hive Legal and has successfully crafted a meaningful and fulfilling career pathway.
Today she generously shares her insights and tips on how she’s challenged the traditional constraints of the legal profession to build her ‘dream job.’
GUEST BLOG BY MELISSA LYON
"I ‘fell’ into the law. I didn’t have any lawyers in my family. My marks were good and the course looked interesting.
After university I set off with a steely focus on the traditional legal career path, and became a graduate in a law firm. I followed the general career trajectory by being promoted to Senior Associate, and then onto become a Partner practicing commercial litigation.
I had always wondered what it would be like to work as a lawyer in a top tier law firm … so I did that too.”
Joining the Dots Toward a Fulfilling Career
“But…. I always knew that I wanted to do something different and that’s when I reflected on what I had really enjoyed studying and the parts of my job that were fulfilling and motivating. I realised that I loved joining the dots, bringing things, ideas, concepts, skills, experiences and, most importantly, people, together to create better outcomes that worked for people. That’s when I began my series of ‘career pivots’ - and I celebrate those pivots every single day!”
The Initial Pivot
“My first move was into a business development role, helping lawyers build better relationships with their clients. My next pivot was to join an innovation law firm, Hive Legal, where I could bring together my understanding of the legal industry, business development skills, creativity and a different way of thinking to improve the experience for the people I work with and our clients.
So … now I am a Design Thinker. I encourage people to be empathetic, creative, collaborative and to be willing to experiment. In doing so, I help our clients to design human-centred solutions for their problems.
I also help lawyers to develop the mindset they need to design solutions for their clients, which ranges from products and processes to strategies. And I also work with my fellow ‘Hivesters’ so we have a workplace that continues to improve the experience for all those involved.
Day to day I get to do some really cool things such as working collaboratively with lawyers and digital designers to develop an animated privacy policy, and build chatbots to help people work out the purpose of their projects (Bee Purposeful).”
Bringing a Human-Centered Approach to Law
“Why do I do what I do now? Because there is a growing appetite to change the way the legal profession works. Traditional constraints are being challenged and, even though it is slow progress, the profession is starting to see how important it is to bring a more human approach to law.
I love being part of that change and I think my pivots have allowed me to do that. They have also helped me get to a place in my career where I feel fulfilled and challenged. For that reason, my personal purpose is to work towards changing things up so that those coming in to the legal profession, and especially women, get to enjoy their experiences working in the law as soon as they can, and perhaps way before I got to!”