About
ABOUT
Jennie Pakula, Director & Principal Lawyer
- Regulation Expert Since 1994
Through three decades of experience, I’ve cultivated a unique blend of expertise in regulation, ethics, and market insights. I’ve worked for regulators in NSW and Victoria, in ethics, complaint handling, investigations, prosecutions, auditing, policy development and many other regulatory activities. My career is rooted in understanding patterns in what I see and transforming them into fresh, creative and actionable insights for both the legal profession and consumers.
TIMELINE
Career Highlights
2010 – 2018
Manager, Assessment & Resolutions
At the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner, I managed the team responsible for intake, assessment and resolution of the majority of client enquiries and complaints, developing a deep and nuanced grasp of the solicitor-client relationship. I developed the innovative and effective Rapid Resolution approach to deal quickly, effectively and practically with easily resolved complaints. Here, I allocated and reviewed approximately 14,000 complaints, gaining unique insights into optimal client service and common pitfalls. I also developed extensive resources on supervision of junior lawyers and developed the first iteration of our compliance auditing process.
2018 - 2023
As Manager, Innovation & Consumer Engagement, I set up our inaugural expert Consumer Panel and led initiatives to understand at a far better level the needs and interests of consumers of legal services. I worked with many lawyers and others to identify barriers to innovation and compliance concerns in new services. I developed and provided guidance on legal services pricing, lawyers providing holistic (legal and non-legal) services, digitising records, developing digital self-help tools, use of generative AI, and many other aspects of modern practice. I developed and ran our ‘Innovation In-box’ and provided helpful and pragmatic guidance to many lawyers and technologists. My work has been pivotal in shaping policies and guiding innovation in legal practice.
Jennie with Checkbox CEO Evan Wong
