Emily Colley-King had a tough choice to make when deciding which family member should move her admission to the legal profession – her older brother or her grandmother.
Her older brother Samuel is a Special Counsel at HWLE Lawyers while her grandmother Jacqui Rigby-King is Principal of her own firm.
The employee relations consultant chose her sibling, who was beyond proud to move her admission on Monday, 21 September, at Brisbane’s Banco Court, where more than 85 new lawyers admitted.
Seven years earlier, Samuel’s admission had been moved by their grandmother in Brisbane.
Emily said the admission sitting was memorable, especially the generational connection to the ceremony.
“Looking over at my brother and sharing a smile as he moved my admission while our Nanna was seated close behind him in the gallery was a very special moment and one I won’t forget,” she said.
“As you can imagine, I was in a unique and difficult position of choosing between my Nan or my brother, who had both expressed interest in moving my admission and been influential throughout my career to date.
“Ultimately, I decided to ask my brother. I figured our Nanna was ‘grandmothering’ in my admission in any case, as she had moved my brother’s admission seven years ago.
“I have always had a keen interest in the law and our legal system and having been exposed to the profession through my family, I knew how fulfilling and diverse a career in law could be.
“Friendly dinner table debates with my older brother also helped to spark that passion.”
Seven years apart – the admissions continue.
And her older brother “felt an immense amount of joy and pride” to move his younger sister’s admission.
“Having seen her grow throughout her studies in high school and university to now reach this milestone, and to appear in the Banco Court to move her admission, will forever be one of the most memorable moments of my legal career,” Samuel said.
“As to family tradition, it was very special to me to have the opportunity of moving Emily’s admission. My Nan was sitting right behind me in the gallery supporting us, and so it gave me a sense of honour to perform a role that my Nan had done for me when she moved my admission as a legal practitioner.
“Emily is naturally driven in her own career. So in terms of encouragement, I have seldom needed to provide that for Emily to decide on pursuing the law. Her drive is one of her many strengths.
“That being said, since she was in high school, I encouraged to pursue the law and have tried my best to usher her forward as a legal student (whether that is giving advice on how to manage her studies, discussing the demands of the legal profession, what her career might look like in the long term, and generally what life is like as a lawyer in private practice).”
He also agreed that there had been family debates growing up.
“We also would have many debates at the dinner table, as she will likely point out – her advocacy skills being another reason I encouraged her to pursue the law!” he said.
“As her big brother, I will always be looking out for her during her legal career, and I am very excited to see what the future holds for her.”
And both Samuel and Emily have a role model as their careers continue to progress.
“My Nan has always been a big supporter of myself and my endeavours to be a lawyer,” Samuel said.
“I initially did not set out to become a lawyer when I first left high school, but circumstances changed and my Nan was an inspiration for me to pursue it as a career, and she certainly encouraged me to do so.
“My Nan has been very successful in her career, having worked at some of the biggest firms in town, starting her own firm, and working as in-house legal counsel throughout the later years of her career.
“She started working as a lawyer during a time where it was very difficult to pursue a career in law as a female, and so both myself and my sister have always admired our Nan for this reason.”
Emily is working in the public sector in workplace relations but hopes to follow her family’s example and branch out into private practice.
“I hope that wherever I end up, I can make a difference for my clients and continuously learn as I develop in my legal career,” she said.
Admitted on 21 September 2026 before Justice Boddice, Justice Doyle and Justice Cooper were: Hamilton-Jones; MacDonald; Kerrigan; Stay; Gunther; Piazza; Hughes; Smith; Roati; Donald; Puno; Bell; Bott; Liu; Robertson; Min; Johnson; Rentoul; Stavrou; Yoon; Chu; Oliver.
Manthey; Kim; Separovich; Botting; Sargent; Puchalski; Singh; Dawood; Keay; Read; Scott; Spooner; Roberts; MacPherson; Dryburgh; Aro; Tokome-Maua; Tighe; Clarke; Mok; Groot; Nyssen; Basnyake.
Avey; Chen; Gandhi; Broughton; Colley-King; Collier; Stone; Chen; Yahav; Qi; Clegg; Nguyen; Painter; Patel; Hancock; Dalus; Waugh; Meffan; Taylor; Butterfield; Kynaston; Perry; Vanden Bergh.
Todd; Lado Mena; Sweeney; Wang; Foley; Makanji; O’Brien; Al-Kaysi; Beor; Rampino-Gallo; Welch; Bradfield; Mohammadi; Caraco; Lindrea-Walker; Williams; Kirstenfeldt; Spooner; Lein; Desai; Ketan; Butcher.
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