Author and renowned commentator Simon Sinek said customers would never love a company until their employees loved it first.
Independent law firm McCullough Robertson (McR) subscribes to that philosophy with a culture that encourages and attracts down-to-earth people.
This is backed by a “door is always open” approach to dealing with each other and a sense that everyone’s view is highly valued regardless of hierarchy.
As part of the series of stories to mark McR’s 2026 100th anniversary, Newsreel spoke with some recent and long-term employees to unlock the DNA of one of Australia’s most enduring law firms.
Julia Lane – Partner, Construction and Infrastructure
For Julia Lane, joining McCullough Robertson in July 2024 meant moving to a firm whose culture already had a strong reputation in the legal market.
Now a Partner in the firm’s Construction and Infrastructure team in Sydney, she said the firm’s reputation as a workplace was an important factor in her decision to join.
“The firm itself is very grounded,” she said. “It doesn’t pretend to be anything that it’s not. We’re a mid-tier firm technically, but we work for top-tier clients.
“That is probably because of our very commercial and honest approach to the way that we deliver legal services. That is definitely something that attracted me to the firm.”
Julia said that combination of high-quality work and a lack of pretension was central to what being “down to earth” meant inside the firm.
She said the same philosophy shaped relationships with clients, many of whom approached lawyers at difficult or unfamiliar points in their business lives.
“Most people’s experience with lawyers is few and far between,” she said. “They’re either in crisis, insofar as something’s gone wrong and they need legal assistance, or they’re taking on something that is potentially outside of their comfort zone and they don’t necessarily know how to navigate.
“Making sure that you are being a safe port in a storm for your clients, that they know that you’ve got their best interests at heart and understand what they need, is so important.”
Patrick O’Brien – Senior Associate, Planning and Environment
Patrick O’Brien’s career at McCullough Robertson began more than a decade ago when, after completing university and spending a year as an associate in the courts, he joined the firm as a graduate.
For Patrick, one of the clearest demonstrations of McCullough Robertson’s down-to-earth culture is the way people at different levels of the firm work together.
“The down-to-earth value is embodied, for me, in the way that different levels of lawyers interact with each other,” he said.
“Law is traditionally a very hierarchical industry, and in a lot of places there are partners who give work to senior associates, who give work to juniors, legal assistants do what they’re told, and everyone goes home at the end of the day. But that’s not been my experience at McR.
That approach, he said, extended to interactions across teams and experience levels.
“It’s a bit of a cliché to say we’ve got an open-door policy – and full disclosure, my door is usually physically closed because I sit right beside the printers – but I’m comfortable sticking my head into anyone’s office or going to anyone’s pod, and equally happy for anyone to pop into my office” he said.
“Lawyers who have been here a couple of months are equally comfortable doing that, particularly across teams.”
For Patrick, some of the strongest demonstrations of culture were not major legal victories but the smaller milestones in the careers of colleagues.
“I think admission days are always really memorable – the days our grads get admitted,” he said.
“It was admission this morning, and half our team went up. You’re standing in the foyer of the Banco Court and you can see two-thirds of the Employment Team is there, the whole Construction Team is there, the Real Estate team is there, and more.
“It would be the easiest thing in the world for the partners and the senior lawyers, who are all busy, to say, ‘Great, it’s an admission. We have one of these every year.’ But the whole team takes the time to go up and support the grad being admitted.”
Alex Sloan – Special Counsel, Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Special Counsel Alex Sloan joined McCullough Robertson in July 2025, after four years with a boutique firm and five years with a national firm before that.
For Alex, McCullough Robertson offered the opportunity to undertake high-quality work without adopting what can be some of the less attractive characteristics of big-firm culture.
“I was really attracted to the fact that it is a firm that is known for doing high-quality work, but without the big-firm culture – a place where people take their work seriously, but not themselves,” he said. “That really resonated with me.”
He said the firm’s lack of “airs and graces” also influenced how its lawyers worked with clients.
“We’re service providers in the end, but we do it in a way that is real and authentic.”
Michelle Guy – Special Counsel, Banking and Finance
Michelle Guy has experienced McCullough Robertson’s culture from two perspectives – as a young lawyer who began her career with the firm and as an experienced lawyer who chose to return.
Michelle first came to McCullough Robertson through a vacation clerkship before becoming a research clerk and joining as a graduate in 2014. She now practices as a Special Counsel in banking and finance, advising financial institutions, private lenders and borrowers on domestic and cross-border transactions.
She said the firm’s approachable culture promoted the development of young lawyers, given the accessibility of senior lawyers and availability of team members to work through problems with those around them.
Michelle said maintaining that culture has also influenced recruitment, with the firm looking beyond technical ability when deciding who to bring into the organisation.
“I think it’s a very curated approach when we’re interviewing, whether it’s for a grad role or to fill a role at a more senior level,” she said.
“There’s a real focus on ensuring the people that we bring into the firm are down to earth and that their values are aligned with those of the firm, to make sure that we can maintain our culture.
“I think clients also appreciate that they can pick up the phone and talk to us and we’re just normal human beings.”
Perhaps her strongest test of that culture came after she left McCullough Robertson following four years with the firm and spent the next four years working elsewhere.
“Probably my most memorable day with the firm is actually the day I came back to McCullough Robertson,” Michelle said.
“That day that I came back to the firm, it really was like coming home for me – some things had changed, but the things that mattered, the things that make us McR, those had stayed the same.”
