Amber Kardamilakis
Director, Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions

What has been the most rewarding experience in your career so far?

There have been so many experience that popped into my head reading this question. Being retained at the end of my articles, bringing in my large first instruction (there is still a reminder that pops up annually in my diary), making partner. They are all individual experiences that felt like the hard work, sacrifice, and decisions have been worth it. They are absolutely highlights and moments of my career that I an exceptionally proud of. However, if you’re going to ask me what the most rewarding experience of my career has been, its none of those. This may seem to be counterintuitive (which is just a fancy for me to say completely ridiculous), but being on maternity leave with my daughter was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.

I can’t remember the particular moment or circumstances that made me decide that I wanted to practice law and particularly “big law”, but I had the principle in my head since at least high school. From then my decisions and actions carried me along through life to achieve the goal I had always wanted to achieve. There wasn’t any significant “stop” along the way where I reflected on my goal, what I had done to achieve it, or even if it was still what I wanted to do.

When on maternity leave, you spend a lot of time alone and separate from the humdrum of usual life. Most of this time is in the middle of the night when the world is quiet and there’s little else happening. Your conversations are also largely limited to the immediate survival and bodily functions of the little human you brought into the world. Not the most riveting of conversations! You have a few precious months in this bubble of motherhood that is completely separate from anything you have experienced in your life. But it also gives you time to reflect on what you’re doing with your life and how it will be rejoining the world again. And in those months away, I thought a lot about my career, my practice, and if it was something that I was inspired to do every day. And the most rewarding experience of my career was coming to the conclusion that I loved my job. My career is something that I am proud of, and my practice is something that I enjoy being able to practice what I do on a daily basis. That moment of realisation has been the most rewarding of my career, and it validated all of the decisions, hard work and sacrifices made over the years.

How do you overcome challenges and stay resilient in the face of adversity?

Challenges and adversity can mean such different things to each person, and such different things in each phase of life. Some personal, recent ones that come to mind are becoming a director and partner, planning weddings through a global pandemic, to watching my newborn daughter spend a month in ICU. But the things that have gotten me through those times, are pretty elementary - trusting and drawing on my internal strength, asking for help when I needed it (although this is still a work in progress) and, perhaps most importantly, having an incredible support system.

I recall my first trial as a junior attorney. The case had started years ago, while I was still studying. I walked into the office where the files were stored and there were files going up to the ceiling. There were so many files that you could barely see the furniture! I remember feeling so overwhelmed thinking how I would get up to speed and add value to the matter. When I started working on the matter, I was hoping that I would be able to go along with the legal team to the trial. Someone said to me if you want a seat at the table, then you need to earn it. And that’s what I did. I put in the long hours’ afterhours and over the weekends. It was daunting to be around experienced legal minds, but I knew that I worked hard and could meaningfully contribute. Instead of approaching it as a challenge that I needed to overcome, I looked at it as an opportunity that I should be grateful for. This story has a happy ending. I did attend the trial and we did win the trial. To date, I still have a copy of the judgment on my noticeboard with the biggest smiley face (drawn by me) to remind me of that time.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self starting out in this industry?

You are human. You are allowed to be human, and other people are allowed to be human too.

What key qualities do you believe have contributed to your success in your career?

The first quality that, in my view, contributed to my success is hard work. People often mislabel hard work. At university my marks were fairly good, so I was often referred as being lucky or smart to get those marks. But what many missed were the extremely long hours and hard work spent studying to achieve those marks. The second quality, and possibly more important quality, was knowing my strengths and weaknesses. Understanding those, and the combination of them, allows me to focus on and develop my strengths, whilst mitigating the impact of my weaknesses. It’s still something that takes a lot of time and effort – and hard conversations with myself – but hopefully a process that will become easier as I get more experienced.

Who has been your biggest mentor or inspiration in your career, and why?

I have been surrounded by the most incredible people that have mentored and inspired me throughout my career. Many, I’m sure, wouldn’t even realise the impact that they have had as most have been through informal arrangements. Special mention has to be to Christina Pretorius and Stephen Kennedy-Good whose mentorship has been so instrumental in guiding me through changes in my career and life, and balancing both.