“She was three months old, and I went out on my own.”
Helena had a client following, a young baby, and a clear idea of the days she wanted. She opened her own commercial litigation practice and never looked back.
Her world
Helena qualified in 2005, made partner, and spent years inside firms of real size. Then she had her daughter, and the shape of a big-firm day stopped fitting the life she wanted to lead.
She didn’t wait to find out how the firm would handle it. She backed herself instead.
“I decided to open my own firm. She was three months old, and I went out on my own. I had nothing to lose, only gain.”
Helena Mrmos, Principal Lawyer, Mozaik Lawyers, Brisbane
Going solo meant one thing had to be true from day one: the work of running a firm couldn’t land on her. She tried two serviced offices before she found one built for the way lawyers actually work.
Focus on your work
As a sole practitioner, Helena has no staff to employ and no back office to manage. The tasks that take up time and take you away from your matters, handled.
“I needed someone to do my court filing when I need it, type up a letter, answer my calls professionally. That is exactly what I needed. I don’t have to employ anyone, and I get all the help I need.”
Helena Mrmos, Principal Lawyer, Mozaik Lawyers, Brisbane
Practise at your best
Helena works on her own, but she isn’t on her own. There is a network of lawyers on-site, peers who understand the pressures of the work to connect with.
When she needs an affidavit witnessed, she walks down the hall. When a friend told her he was starting his own firm, she told him to come too.
“There are a lot of lawyers here. You can knock on someone’s door, get a second opinion, chat about a matter. You feel like you’re in a bigger firm without being in a big firm.”
Helena Mrmos, Principal Lawyer, Mozaik Lawyers, Brisbane
Support your clients
Clients come in for meetings and take Helena’s practice at face value. The front is professional, the address is central, and nothing about the setup gives away that she runs it solo.
“Clients come in for meetings. They think it’s great. Some of them don’t even realise it’s not my own firm.”
Helena Mrmos, Principal Lawyer, Mozaik Lawyers, Brisbane
The office sits minutes from court, so there’s no time lost crossing town on a hearing day.
Save your money
Helena gets the support of a firm without carrying the cost of one. No staff to hire, no long lease, no fitout. The help is there when she needs it and not on the payroll when she doesn’t.
“The rent and everything is very reasonable, and very flexible. I get all the help I need without having to engage anyone.”
Helena Mrmos, Principal Lawyer, Mozaik Lawyers, Brisbane
Practising on your own terms
This is what the leap bought her. The flexibility to work when she works best, and to be there for her daughter without asking anyone’s permission.
Her advice for lawyers weighing up the same move is simple: the unknown only lasts until you’ve done it.
“I can attend events for her. If I finish early I pick her up, or she comes and plays in my office while I work. She gets to do that more than other kids whose parents work in a firm.”
“My fear was, where is the work going to come from? But once you transition, it’s no longer unknown. You’ve done it, then you just work, and somehow things work out.”
Helena’s practice is her own.
The infrastructure behind it is Clarence. The only workspace in Australia created by lawyers, for lawyers.