By Emily-Rose Toohey
Senior consultant Alex Gudkovs of Hede Byrne and Hall Lawyers celebrated 45 years of practice in April and is set to retire at the end of June.
However, Alex said it was not always his ambition to be a lawyer.
“I was originally going to be a scientist, then a philosopher,” he said.
“Then I felt that I needed to go into something that was really down to earth.”
After spending three years practising in Victoria, Alex said he moved to Queensland in 1980 and has been serving the Warwick community ever since.
When reflecting upon his decades-long career, Alex said it had been a mixed bag.
“People need the help of a lawyer, whether it be little or big matters, and I felt I could help them,” he said.
Over the years, Alex said he has seen the industry change and evolve.
“When I was younger, it was quite often for people to do a few streams of practice,” he said.
“With the constant change of law coupled with the impact of technology, people then had too much to do.”
Alex said that the rise of the internet increased the need for lawyers to specialise, something he had noticed over the past 30 years.
“It’s now rare for people to do two or three areas,” he said.
However, Alex said he has stayed with commercial agreements, mostly in relation to property.
Now at 75 years of age, he felt that it was time to retire from his career, which marks the end of Alex’s professional relationships with clients, some of whom he’s had for 40 years.
“I don’t move as fast as I used to, and modern law requires a high degree of efficiency and movement,” Alex said.
“And at my stage of life, it becomes less and less interesting.”
But when looking back at his career, Alex noted that he has always been supported by great staff.
“I’ve had good partners to work with and am really happy,” he said.
