Three little-known facts about McKays Solicitors

When you’re Googling for jobs in law firms, you might come across McKays Solicitors in the results. They might not be the first place you think of when considering work experience. It has, though, grown from small offices in regional Queensland to a large firm with statewide reach.

• They’ve got a heart-wrenching backstory

It doesn’t start terribly, rather it begins as a story of success. McKays began when two small offices in North Queensland merged together in March 1988. One was called Nissen & Coates, the other Seeto McKay. Later that year Mark McKay, one of the other founding partners, went out one day on a drive. He was tragically killed in a collision. To honour him, the firm changed its name to McKays Solicitors. Founders of the group continued to work for the company: Andrew Coates worked for the McKay Group until his retirement in 2007.

• Inside growth

The company invests in its own people when it wants to expand or fill executive roles. A prime example of this is Kerri Borg, the CEO of McKays. Kerri began as a litigation secretary right back at the beginning, when the two firms merged together. After travelling and spending some time in the real estate sector, she returned in 1998. She moved through the ranks and was General Manager for about five years before getting the top job.

Kerri herself has admitted that attracting and retaining staff is a challenge, especially as McKays Solicitors’ head office is based in regional Queensland. But she says the reservations about working in regional towns can change quickly:

Regional firms can and do have many talented practitioners who choose to live and work where they do for a variety of reasons, including lifestyle and family… there are advantages for regional practices, such as fewer competitors, which makes it easier to differentiate and position a practice as a big fish in a small pond, provided you have the right people in place (K. Borg for ALPMA)

• Different specialties

McKays Solicitors has three main sectors that branch off into different specialities. These are:

1. Business
2. Personal
3. Industry

In this table is a selection of specialities that the Group provides services for. The full list is available on their website.

If you succeed in getting a job at McKays Solicitors, you have the opportunity to work in a group that specialises in many different areas and looks internally for growth. Just look at Kerri and her position today. They offer apprenticeships/traineeships for potential admin assistants and paralegals, and provide a friendly workplace environment where you’ll flourish.