Construction Litigation Lawyer
Len Watt – Becker Watt Lawyers
So at the age of 53 I have just taken a large step and gone into business for myself as a construction litigation lawyer. So am I mad? Why would I do such a thing? These are two of the numerous questions that I have been asking myself since I took this enormous and life changing step.
As a 16 year old growing up in rural Queensland in the 1970’s life did not have the unending horizons that it has today. No internet, no mobile phones; it was difficult to see a life outside of the narrow surroundings that I was in. Being a lawyer was a dream, but a pipe dream. Going to university in Brisbane was outside of the capacity of my parents, besides my parents where happy within the world that we lived in and could see no reason why anyone would want to escape that world.
After completing my carpentry apprenticeship, I joined the Royal Australian Navy, on a whim. Six years later I had travelled to more places than I can remember, saw more of life than I had previously thought possible and gained the knowledge that the world was a wide and wonderful place with boundless opportunities.
Strangely perhaps, after leaving the Navy I went back to the building industry and settled down to raise a family. But the dream was never lost.
I then found myself in my Forties wondering what would life have been if I had of followed my dream as a 16-17 year old. I had three kids that I loved and was very proud of, but what if… what about the road not travelled?
So, I looked back into my past and decided to go back to university to study law. After surviving both physically and financially during my degree, the next challenge was to find employment as a law graduate in my mid to late forties. I was fortunate in that I came across Doyles Construction Lawyers and sent them a copy of my resume. I met Jim Doyle and commenced working for Doyles doing Construction litigation lawyer work. The learning curve was steep and in Jim Doyle I found a mentor who taught me and showed me a lot about the business of being a construction litigation lawyer rather than just being a lawyer.
So what is the point of rather narcissistic look at the past? Well I guess to understand the decision to become self employed then I need to understand the journey that got me here.
But why now? The simply answer is why not now. I am moving into the next phase of my life, but to me it is not a time to start to reflect on the past it’s a time to look to the future. Becoming self employed has provided me with a new lease on life, I am excited about the future and building my business. I see opportunities to bring the next generation into the business, to learn grow and develop with the business and hopefully at some point tell me that I need to let them take over.
I am the sum of my life experiences, each one of them has moulded me into who I am today. I believe that I am now able to accept both the good and the bad periods of my life. It has been a strange journey, but that journey is not over, not yet.
Let’s see what the next 20 years brings.
Len Watt – Becker Watt Lawyers
