Get to know Fee Langstone: Sam Learmonth

How long have you been practicing law and how long have you been working at FL/ Jones Fee?

I graduated in 2006 and worked for two years as a Judges’ Clerk before starting work at another insurance litigation firm in 2008 where I worked for just over two years. I started work at Jones Fee in 2010.  Having recently spent a short time at another firm, I re-joined Fee Langstone in 2017.

What do you think sets FL apart from other firms?

Aside from its excellent reputation in providing expert advice that is also very pragmatic, Fee Langstone has a great culture that recognises and encourages hard work but also is casual and friendly and very collegial with a real focus on people.  Everyone from the partners down are invested in the success of the firm. The firm is also dog friendly which gets extra bonus points from me – we have a Groodle (Golden-Retriever / Standard Poodle cross) named Kit, and as the firm has a dog as our mascot and dogs can come to work, that gives Kit even more people to befriend.

Why did you decide to work in the insurance industry?

Like many people in the industry, I didn’t make a conscious decision to work in insurance – rather, I fell into insurance and have stayed working in it.  After finishing as a Judges’ Clerk I knew that I wanted to go into litigation and took a job at another specialist insurance firm without really knowing much about the industry.  I soon realised that it was really interesting and intellectually stimulating. Insurance litigation is a multifaceted area of the law and I enjoy resolving complex disputes that require us to sometimes look outside the box for a solution. So many different factual circumstances can arise because almost everything is insurable, and almost anything can go wrong.  I find the variation of claims very rewarding.

If you weren’t a lawyer what do you think you would be doing?

I would have liked to have been an architect or urban planner. When I was little I was obsessed with drawing elevations of houses and street plans of fictional cities.  I would happily sit at the dining table for hours with big sheets of graph paper armed with a ruler and lead pencil. I love how cities work and if I wasn’t working as a lawyer I would love to work in a role that plays a part in developing the urban environment.

What are three things on your bucket list?

I am a big train nerd and I would love to travel on the Orient Express between Venice and Istanbul. We caught the train from Melbourne to Adelaide last year and it didn’t quite compare although we did see a lot of Australian farmland during the ten hour journey. I would really like to see the Henley Rowing Regatta at some stage.  I used to row at school and it’s been on my bucket list since then. I would also love to see Cher in concert – if only to hear “Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves” sung live (which is a sad indictment on my taste in music).