Criminal law specialist Lauren Cassimatis has been nominated for Thought Leader of the Year in the 2024 Women In Law Awards.
The Melbourne-based lawyer is up for the award through her work with Connecting Lawyer Mums, a support group dedicated to boosting the well-being, confidence and careers of lawyer parents and related professionals.
Cassimatis founded the group in 2018 after she felt disconnected from her profession during her second round of maternity leave.
As a career driven person she told Neos Kosmos there was a disconnect between two identities of being a mum and a career woman.
“Rather than kind of falling victim to it, I created a group just for criminal lawyers at the time, mums, for us to just sort of bond and connect over the challenges and joys of being a working parent and a lawyer,” she said.
She then had women reach out to her from other areas in and even other industries, and today they have nearly 8000 members all around Australia and overseas.
“You don’t feel judged. You can vent and bounce ideas off each other and it just really helps you feel empowered and stay in control of both aspects of your life so you can have a successful career and life at home as a good parent.”
Value in what she’s doing
Cassimatis said the nomination signifies that there is a value in what she is doing and there is a need for it.
She never really appreciated the value it brought for people’s lives until she had people reaching out wanting to join the group.
“The award nomination to me, it just recognises that need and also it recognises and values women that are lawyers and mums,” she said.
“It’s showing that working mums are worth something and worthy of recognition and appreciation and it helps me to continue doing the work I’m doing for them to be able to support them.
“It’s not just an award for me but for all the women out there that need that extra support and understanding and appreciation.”
Every year Connecting Lawyer Mums hold a charity event, held in different states every year, where they hand out awards and have guest speakers to inspire those in attendance.
They also hold smaller events for people to connect, share ideas and support one another.
Pride and values
Cassimatis is a third generation Greek Australian, whose grandparents came from Kythera and Chios. She said she is proud of her heritage and like many Greeks, values family and community.
These values were instilled in her by her grandmother, who mostly raised her alongside her father.
“I think that’s what’s driven me as well to do Connecting Lawyer Mums. You shouldn’t just be about yourself. You should give back. You should look after others and I really value social occasions. I love having that parea,” she said.
“That comes from being Greek. We love a good time together, looking after one another and there’s never a quiet moment when you’re in the company of Greek people.
“I want to continue that now as sort of a progressive Greek woman honouring the values and traditions but also using them to inspire me to do it in a modern world with some contemporary views.”
Dealing with Greeks as a Greek
Cassimatis shared that she often has Greek clients coming to her firm because they want someone who understands their culture.
She said working with Greeks and other multicultural communities, they are all family oriented.
“Sometimes crimes can happen because we’re doing it out of loyalty. We want to protect people, and then it can get a bit out of hand and it turns into a crime,” she said.
“When I’m representing them, I understand that what’s happened doesn’t always come from a vigilante role or anything but because we’re especially driven by this need to protect our people.”
She added that when you deal with a client, you often deal with the entire family,
“I also know that Greek families, we take care of our older and younger generation.”
“When I’m seeing my clients, it will include their family because they’re just as much part of the case… working together to support them through the hearings and get them through mentally.”
