Meet Lucy Monroe - Avantia's Training Director

As part of Avantia’s continued investment in building the future of legal services, we’re excited to introduce our new Training Director, Lucy Monroe. This role is designed to support the growth, development, and impact of our legal team and help us train the next generation of lawyers. We caught up with Lucy to talk about her journey, what the role means, and what’s next. 

Q: Let’s start with your journey — what’s your background, and what brought you to this new role as Training Director? 

A: I trained at Freshfields, qualifying and working in their General Banking team, and later spent time as a finance lawyer at Travers Smith and then at DLA Piper in Sydney. I actually joined Avantia right at the beginning, back in 2020, as a consultant. What really drew me in was the idea of better work-life balance, without sacrificing working with smart people and for smart clients. 

What really excites me is the chance to make systemic improvements: not just how we approach NDAs or compliance work, but how we train and develop the next generation of legal professionals. 

My background in complex financial transactions has definitely helped me — it taught me how important it is to be commercial and pragmatic, while still delivering precise, accurate legal work. As Avantia grew, I found myself getting more and more involved in onboarding new team members and sharing what I’d learned about delivering for our clients. I realised how much I enjoyed that side of things; coaching, developing, helping others grow; so stepping into the Training Director role felt like a very natural next step. 

What really excites me is the chance to make systemic improvements: not just how we approach NDAs or compliance work, but how we train and develop the next generation of legal professionals. 

Q: What does the role actually involve day-to-day? And why was now the right time for Avantia to create it? 

A: Day-to-day, I’m working closely with all our lawyers and paralegals - it could be anything from running one-to-one coaching sessions, helping someone refine their negotiation style or better understand client priorities, to delivering group training sessions on key learning points. I’m also building out a training portal, which will be a one-stop shop for standard documents, training notes, and recorded sessions, to make learning more accessible. 

The timing felt right because of how quickly things are evolving — not just at Avantia but across the industry. Technology like Ava is helping us strip out a lot of the repetitive steps, which means our people are increasingly focusing on higher-level, more complex work. It’s not enough to just have great tech; you need experts who can deal with nuanced queries and deliver real value. So we’re doubling down on making sure our team stays ahead of the curve. 

Q: At Avantia, there’s a big focus on building the future of legal services, how does training fit into that picture? 

A: It’s a huge part of it. The way legal services are delivered is changing fast — technology and AI are making things more efficient, which is great, but it’s also shifting client expectations. 

Clients still expect the same expert advice and results — but they want it faster, and delivered in a way that feels seamless. Technology allows us to deliver that, but it also means the role of the lawyer is evolving. It’s no longer just about knowing the law — it’s about how you work alongside technology, how you think strategically, and how you add real commercial value. 

Training is critical to making that shift happen. It’s about building the judgment and commercial awareness that clients increasingly value, alongside the technical skills. In a fast-changing profession, training isn’t just about learning what’s “market” or the best practice — it’s about preparing our team to shape the future of legal services. 

Q: We’ve just announced our SQE program, but more broadly how are you thinking about creating a training environment for the future? 

A: We’re really focused on training that’s practical and grounded in real work. Our lawyers train on the job, supervised by ex-“Big Law Firm” lawyers who’ve been there and understand what excellence looks like. That real-time feedback is so valuable. 

At the same time, we’re backing that up with formal training — structured programs, group sessions, and soon, a fully developed training portal. And our Avantia Academy will be an important entry point too, helping set the standard right from the start. 

Training isn’t just about learning what’s “market” or the best practice — it’s about preparing our team to shape the future of legal services. 

But we also know that the future of law isn’t just about technical legal skills anymore. It’s about developing the soft skills that really set great lawyers apart — how you respond to clients, how you manage pressure, how you build trust quickly and think commercially. And increasingly, it’s also about being experts in leveraging the latest AI and legal tech tools. 

That’s why we work closely with our technology team to make sure our lawyers understand not just how the tools work, but how to use them strategically — how to make smarter decisions, deliver faster for clients, and focus their energy where it adds the most value. The way we see it, it’s about training the complete lawyer for the next generation of legal practice. 

Q: And finally — what are you most excited about as you get started? Any big goals for the year ahead? 

A: Honestly, there’s so much! On a personal level, I’m really excited about the expansion of our service lines and the growth of legal teams. That’s pushing me to expand my own learning, so I can help build strong, consistent training across all areas. The speed that AI is evolving is also really exciting - we want our lawyers to be leading the way, and that means I have to be there too!  

More broadly, I’m excited about creating a training culture where people feel genuinely empowered — where we’re not just ticking boxes, but really developing lawyers who are confident, commercial, and ready for whatever the future of legal services looks like.