Jess McGraw works as a paralegal at the Stacks Champion office in Parramatta. She has a Bachelor of Laws and Criminology from Western Sydney University.
Jess completed two internships in family law and intentional torts, and also worked at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in the Immigration and Migration Department.
She particularly valued her time with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, as she enjoyed the rewarding feeling of helping families to stay together in Australia. There is nothing she loved more than receiving an e-mail or a phone call from an applicant thanking her for her assistance in their matter.
Working in these positions taught her how to advocate for people who cannot advocate for themselves. She believes this is one of her biggest skills.
As a very empathetic person, Jess has a lot of time for people. This allows her to apply herself fully to a situation, listen and understand an individual’s problem, and work with them to a desired outcome.
Jess is very driven, which means no task or problem is too big for her. She will always strive to solve a problem or reach the end goal, no matter the challenges faced in between.
As someone who has wanted to study law for as long as she can remember, Jess studied extremely hard during her HSC to ensure she received the grades to be accepted into her course at university.
She credits her childhood love of the film Legally Blonde for planting the seed of wanting to become a lawyer. Jess has always loved helping people and realised this was possible through a career in law.
Outside of work, Jess loves spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys cooking and putting on a spread for her family at any opportunity she gets.
Jess is also currently in the early stages of starting a charity for veterans who suffer from PTSD.
With a father who has been a member of the navy all her life, she has seen first-hand the impact that PTSD has had on her own family and others around her.
It is a very long process, but she hopes that soon her dream to give back to the defence community will become a reality.
