Jim Maxwell
Tell us your career story…
I started at Hall & Wilcox in 1997 and obtained great grounding and belief in the law as a career. I travelled to London and got lucky with a job at Linklaters who then sent me on secondment to Vodafone. This led to me working in telecommunications for 22 years, both here in Australia for Optus and then at a startup telco in Muscat, Oman, where I worked or 12 years. Covid forced a return to Melbourne, a brief stint at Melbourne Uni, a mid-life crisis and I’m now working in sport for Melbourne City following [misguided] advice from Marty Ross.
A typical day at work for me is...
I am part of the executive team at Melbourne City so normally an unnecessary meeting or 10, contract reviews, legal advice, often an HR issue, player transfers and loans, gameday matters (not normally pitch invasions) and then later in the day coordinating with UK our appearances at local footy clubs to drive brand.
The thing that makes me get out of bed and go to work each morning is …
from a work perspective, it is being part of producing something that brings enjoyment to people and getting to work closely with communities to inspire the next generation of players at all levels from social to professional. That said, the real thing that gets me out of bed is my dog scratching at the door.
I’m also passionate about …
guitar, astronomy, camping, the Tigers and my family.
The best bit of advice given to me was …
Geoff Durham told me early on in during my articles that ‘precedents perpetuate errors’ and that stuck. It has always prompted me to think about each arrangement with fresh eyes and to not be afraid to start from scratch to build something bespoke.
The best part of my role is …
there are so many but if I had to list some it would be the people I work with, the variety and flexibility of my work and the community aspect of my role.
My most memorable Hall & Wilcox moment was …
I loved working at Hall & Wilcox and have many great memories of my brief time there, including spending weeks on the road doing remote workover circuits, free Friday night drinks in the old board room and playing Club18 football with six or seven colleagues, including Mark Dunphy who had one of the best kicks ever seen at that level.
This article was published in September 2023.