Perth solicitor based on Gnowangerup farm strikes regional balance

Working on a Gnowangerup farm, while also being a solicitor in Perth sounds like a tough balance to strike, but it’s the everyday reality for Ciara Nalty. While studying to be a lawyer, she imagined working at a big city commercial law firm and had the experience to back up her dream — she had never even stepped foot on a farm. But, as so many big smoke to small town stories go, she fell in love with a farmer nearly four years ago. While in her final semester at university, she visited partner Brandon’s family farm. Her first lesson was crutching — to remove the wool from around the tail and between the rear legs of a sheep. It was a good introduction to sheep farming, she said. Now as a qualified solicitor for Bailiwick Legal, Ms Nalty works remotely between the farm and city with a focus on serving regional communities. “The work that we do is it’s in tourism and agribusiness,” she said. “My days will involve working on farm leases, sale contracts, wind farm negotiations, easements and litigation. “It definitely wasn’t what I imagined in uni, but I don’t think I could have imagined being involved with such a tight-knit community as we have in Gnowangerup.” Ms Nalty said her remote role with Bailiwick Legal meant she was given independence to make strategic decisions, while helping her community. “There’s lots of women down here who are doing amazing things and running businesses, and you’re able to do that with a little bit more freedom because you have so much support,” she said. “In these kinds of communities you really do have to rely on each other. “You can only gain from being harmonious and working with others. You want to be a fountain, not a drain.” Wearing multiple hats, Ms Nalty recently joined the board for land care organisation North Stirlings Pallinup Natural Resources working in sustainable agriculture and preserving the land for future generations. Ms Nalty is also planting seeds for the future, recently becoming involved with Women in Farming after attending the 2024 Wagin Woolarama. In the meantime, she is keen to keep working remotely with her clients. “For women in farming communities, working from home or working from the city somewhere down here, is only something that’s been available, that I can see, for the last 10 years,” she said. “My generation really see a value in it, particularly for working mums. I’m not a parent yet, but I’ve noticed for working mums, working from home, it’s seen as a real privilege. “But in the country, it really should be more of an expectation.”