For Pascale Legal Principal & Director, Angelina Pascale, practising law is about more than understanding legislation. It is about giving people a voice and guiding them through some of the most difficult periods of their lives.
Since establishing the firm in 2011, she has built a career grounded in advocacy and a genuine commitment to the people she represents.
In this interview, she reflects on the beginnings of her career, the importance of mentoring young practitioners, and what 15 years of running a firm has taught her.
How did your career in law begin?
I started my legal studies at 18 with Flinders University, where I completed a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice and a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Criminology and minoring in Legal Studies. I then completed an Honours degree in Criminology.
I was admitted to practice in South Australia in 2009 and, in the same year, was admitted to practice in the High Court of Australia.
My pathway into the profession ultimately led me to establish Pascale Legal Barristers & Solicitors in 2011. When I look back at where it began and what it has become, it is something of which I am incredibly proud of.
Did you enjoy studying law?
I did. In fact, I enjoyed Criminology so much that I seriously contemplated undertaking a PhD.
Ultimately, however, the practical application of law won out. Once I began seeing how legal principles translated into real people’s lives and real-world outcomes, I wanted to begin practising as soon as I completed my law degree.
I have always been someone who wants to understand how and why things happen, solve problems and advocate for people. The law gave me an opportunity to do all three.
University gives you the academic foundation, but there is an enormous amount about being a lawyer that simply cannot be taught in a lecture theatre. You learn it when you begin dealing with real people, real problems and the responsibility that comes with someone entrusting you with a matter that may profoundly affect their life.
That is when you really begin learning how to be a lawyer.
What did your early career look like? How did it shape how you practice law today?
Before being admitted, and during the early stages of my legal career, I worked as a Law Clerk at what was then Fittock & Co and later Caldicott & Co. Following my admission, I practised primarily in criminal law and succession planning at Caldicott & Co.
For shorter periods, I also worked at Nicholls Gervasi and Hicks & Co, both of which have since ceased operating.
Those early experiences were enormously valuable. They taught me the importance of hard work, taking responsibility for the work you put your name to, and being able to communicate with people from every walk of life.
They also gave me early exposure to different approaches to running a legal practice — what worked, what did not, and the type of practice I ultimately wanted to build myself.
Those lessons have stayed with me throughout my career and have undoubtedly influenced the way I practise law, manage people, and run Pascale Legal today.
Did you always want to be a lawyer?
Absolutely. I have wanted to be a lawyer since I was in Year 3.
I distinctly remember my parents being involved in a fencing and boundary wall dispute with a neighbour. From my eight-year-old perspective, being a lawyer looked like tremendous fun!
Ironically, more than 30 years later, my knowledge of fencing and boundary disputes is fairly limited — if not non-existent — so perhaps that part did not quite go according to plan.
As I grew older, what genuinely attracted me to the law was the opportunity to advocate for people and make a tangible difference at times when they may be experiencing some of the most difficult circumstances of their lives.
Public speaking and advocacy have always come naturally to me, but advocacy is about far more than being comfortable speaking. It is about being able to give a voice to someone when they may not be able to effectively speak for themselves.
Without fail, it remains a privilege to be entrusted with telling someone’s story. In criminal law, that may mean explaining a person’s background and the circumstances that led them to offend. In family law, it may mean telling the story of a relationship, the contributions each person made and what occurred over many years of their lives together.
Behind every legal issue is a human story, and I have never lost sight of the privilege that comes with being trusted to tell it.
My upbringing also contributed significantly to both the person and the lawyer I became. I grew up understanding the importance of hard work, family, responsibility and standing up for what you believe is right.
Have you always had an interest in family law?
No — certainly not!
When I commenced working at Caldicott & Co in 2009, I was probably what you would call a “reluctant family lawyer”. My primary areas of practice were criminal law and succession planning, and I certainly did not envisage family law becoming such a significant part of my career.
That changed when I established Pascale Legal in 2011. My former boss, Craig Caldicott, gave me a fairly direct piece of advice: “If you want to make your firm work, you need to do family law.”
So, family law it was.
Very quickly, I discovered that I genuinely enjoyed the area. It brought together many of the aspects of legal practice that had always appealed to me — advocacy, strategy, storytelling and, importantly, the opportunity to protect children and assist families at incredibly difficult points in their lives.
Family law is an intensely human area of practice. Behind every file are people, children and families navigating significant change. Practising effectively in this area requires far more than an understanding of legislation and case law. It requires judgement, empathy and perspective, together with an ability to give clear, practical and sometimes difficult advice when emotions are understandably very high.
My work as an Independent Children’s Lawyer has been particularly meaningful. It carries an enormous responsibility because, irrespective of the conflict between the adults, the focus must remain firmly on the best interests of the child.
More recently, becoming an accredited mediator has felt like a natural extension of my family law practice. After many years of litigation, I have developed a strong appreciation for the value of helping people resolve disputes without prolonged court proceedings where circumstances allow. Sometimes the best advocacy is helping people find a way forward without having to fight every issue to the end.
What have been some of the highlights and biggest challenges of your career?
One of the greatest highlights has undoubtedly been establishing Pascale Legal in 2011 and watching it develop over the past 15 years.
Building a firm from the ground up is something I am immensely proud of. It is one thing to practise law; it is another to build a practice, develop a team, and create an organisation that people trust with some of the most important and difficult matters they will ever face.
I am equally proud of the younger lawyers and law clerks who have come through the firm. Watching someone develop from a student or Junior Practitioner into a confident, capable, and independent lawyer is a different kind of professional achievement, but one that means an enormous amount to me.
The hardest aspect of the profession is also, in many ways, what makes the work meaningful: we often meet people during some of the most difficult periods of their lives.
In family and criminal law particularly, the consequences for clients and their families can be profound. A good lawyer needs to genuinely care about the person they represent while retaining the objectivity necessary to give clear, and sometimes uncomfortable, advice. Finding that balance is essential.
Running a legal practice brings an entirely different set of challenges that you do not necessarily anticipate when you first become a lawyer. You are simultaneously a practitioner, employer, mentor, leader, and business owner. There is no law school subject that teaches you how to balance all of those responsibilities.
Learning to do so has been one of the greatest challenges of my career, but it has also been one of my greatest areas of personal and professional growth.
What do you find to be the most rewarding part of your job?
Knowing that I have genuinely helped someone.
For a lawyer, a matter is part of our working day. For the client, it may be one of the most significant events of their entire life. I never want to lose sight of that distinction.
Sometimes the rewarding outcome is a successful result in court. At other times, it is helping people reach an agreement that allows them to put a difficult chapter behind them, protecting the interests of a child, or simply giving someone clarity and direction when they feel overwhelmed and cannot see a way forward.
Not every good outcome comes with a dramatic courtroom victory. Sometimes success is a client walking away with certainty, dignity and the ability to move forward with their life.
Being trusted to help someone reach that point remains one of the greatest privileges of what I do.
Do you enjoy mentoring young lawyers?
Very much. I believe experienced practitioners have a responsibility to invest in the next generation of the profession. Legal knowledge is obviously fundamental, but becoming a good lawyer involves so much more than simply knowing the law.
I try to teach younger practitioners the importance of preparation, judgement, accountability and professionalism, and of treating everyone with respect — clients, colleagues, court staff, and opposing practitioners, alike.
I also encourage them to develop their own style. I do not want them to become a copy of me or any other lawyer. The best practitioners learn from the people around them, take what works and ultimately develop their own professional identity.
Confidence comes with experience, and one of the most rewarding things to witness is the point at which a young lawyer begins trusting their own judgement and recognising just how capable they have become.
Looking ahead, what your plans—both professionally and personally?
Professionally, I want to continue developing Pascale Legal while ensuring the firm retains the values on which it was established 15 years ago.
Growth matters, but growth for its own sake has never been my objective. The quality of our work, the relationships we build with our clients, the development of our people and the culture of the firm are equally important to me.
I also intend to continue expanding my mediation practice. After many years of litigation, I have developed an even greater appreciation for the value of resolving disputes constructively where circumstances allow. There will always be matters that require litigation and strong advocacy, but there are also many cases where helping people reach a resolution can achieve a better outcome for everyone involved.
On a personal level, I am entering a stage of my life where family has become an even greater priority.
With ageing parents, including a parent living with dementia, I have become acutely conscious that time is something we cannot get back. It has changed my perspective on what balance means and on the importance of being present for the people who matter most.
I have spent much of my adult life working incredibly hard to establish my career and build Pascale Legal. I am enormously proud of what that work has created, but I have also become more conscious of the effect that a demanding professional life can have on health and wellbeing. Success, for me, can no longer be measured solely by how much I can fit into a working day or how many hours I can work.
The next chapter is about continuing to be ambitious about my profession and the future of Pascale Legal, while being equally deliberate about making time for life outside of it.
That means spending meaningful time with my parents, my partner, my brother and, of course, Dino, my Samoyed, who is very much a member of the family.
I remain as passionate about the law and the future of Pascale Legal as I have ever been. But after 15 years of building the firm, I think I have also learned something important: a successful career should be part of a fulfilling life, not come at the expense of one.
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If you require legal assistance, Angelina Pascale, and the team at Pascale Legal can assist. Contact us today on (08) 8250 0404 or via admin@pascalelegal.com.au.