Deb Rolfe sends her final email: Celebrating one of Canberra’s most impressive women
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In a piece for HerCanberra in 2018, partner at MEJ, charity powerhouse and mother of three Deb Rolfe AM detailed how her day usually started at 5:25 am, the early rise necessitated by the busyness of her days.
Balancing a heavy client workload as partner at one of Canberra’s biggest law firms with a truly inspiring commitment to charity work, Deb Rolfe, alongside husband Richard, has long been a household name in Canberra, with the pair helping to raise millions of dollars over the past three decades for causes as varied as The Canberra Hospital Foundation to the Canberra Capitals.
As my colleague Emma Macdonald wrote in that 2018 piece “It would be enough for many of us to reach peak status in the legal fraternity—as a partner in a law firm—and then stop to take a breath.”
Now, Deb is finally able to take that breath. On 14 July, Deb will retire from a truly astonishing career as a partner at MEJ after 27 years at the firm and thousands of clients.
For Deb, it’s a time to pause and reflect on what she calls a “wonderful” career, one that was made possible by the welcome she received when she first applied to work at MEJ in 1996.
Deb had only been working as a lawyer in Sydney and Canberra for three years when she gave birth to twins Jake and Tom. Son Zach followed just 18 months later, and Deb took seven years off work to raise the boys, time she says she was “lucky” to have.
However, Deb always knew she wanted to return to the legal profession and sent letters to “a dozen legal firms in Canberra” with “a little bit of hope that somebody would respond”. That somebody was George Maliganis.
Deb was nervous at the prospect of seeking part-time work to fit around her sons’ preschool but says George accepted her hours with open arms.
“I was a little worried it would be difficult after seven years off, but I needn’t have worried—as soon as you get back into work it’s like riding a horse,” laughs Deb.
“Within Canberra, [law] was very male-dominated,” she reflects. “But for me, being offered a job at MEJ was the perfect opportunity to get back into work, still within school hours so I could be with the boys before school, after school…it was the perfect solution.”
On her first day at MEJ, Deb was invited along to a Law Society function by George’s fellow partner Craig Edwards, setting the foundation of what would be a decades-long friendship.
“There was a Law Society lunch that Craig was going to, and he said ‘Come along, Deb’…so I thought ‘This isn’t too bad, I can do this’,” reflects Deb with a smile.
“In 2007, I was lucky enough to be offered a partnership with John and Craig. I felt as if I had made my mark by then, in that we were working very hard and were getting great results for clients. We had expanded our business to the point that we—whilst only a small firm—had the largest number of CTP files of any firm in Canberra.”
“So we were very successful, but a lot of that was based on the fact that we were very mindful about our clients—what they were going through and ensuring that we were able to assist them properly and having that empathy.”
While MEJ became one of Canberra’s busiest firms, Deb says time was always made for work-life balance, with Deb encouraged to take time out of work for her boys’ school presentations and activities.
“I do feel as if I’ve been lucky to have the most wonderful, balanced career…and it’s been because of Craig in particular, who was always so welcoming, so flexible, so generous. If I needed to go to school to watch the kids, it was not an issue, in fact, it was actively encouraged.”
“To have that balance of work and home and get that enjoyment out of both and feel as if I wasn’t letting anyone down by doing that, that has been the greatest achievement. I feel very lucky to have had what I see as the perfect career [and] a great home life.”
As Deb looks back at her 27 years as a lawyer, it’s always the people—both her colleagues at MEJ and their clients—that come to mind.
“What I am really proud of is the firm that I have helped to develop, the number of staff that we have, and the friendships within that staff. Staff are not just employees, they become friends, because you’re dealing with traumatic circumstances every single day with clients.”
As for the parts of work she’s looking forward to leaving behind in retirement, Deb says with a wry smile that her email inbox won’t be missed.
“That will actually be the biggest change because I have been accessible via email 24/7…I’ve not had one holiday, one weekend, where I haven’t accessed my emails and been available to assist clients and staff with any issues. So that will be the biggest change I think—not having to worry about emails coming in.”
However, while Deb is excited to log out of her inbox for the last time, the charitable aspect of her career is far from over.
“I’ll still be Chair of the Canberra Hospital Foundation and, of course, with my husband, Richard, we do a few other bits and pieces,” Deb says modestly.
Naturally, more volunteering will be on the cards, as is travel, both re-visiting places her and Richard have loved and seeing new parts of the world. Deb and Richard’s first grandchild will also be born in August, an arrival she’s eagerly anticipating.
Mostly, however, Deb is excited to have space to find out what’s next.
“I just want to take a moment and work out what it is that I want to do.… going from an incredibly rewarding career…I want to make sure that my retirement is very fulfilling.”
