What does it take to walk away from a successful legal career to pursue a dream you’ve held since childhood? For lawyer turned author Emily Tsokos Purtill, it was a slow, steady build.
After over a decade in top-tier law firms in Perth (and a year in Paris), Emily made the decision to prioritise writing. And it turns out that was a great decision as her debut novel Matia, an intergenerational story of four Greek-Australian women bound by superstition and resilience, won the 2025 Western Australian Premier’s Book Award for an Emerging Writer.
The journey from lawyer to author
Like many first and second-generation Australians, Emily felt the weight of family expectations. Growing up watching her Greek immigrant grandparents work tirelessly, writing didn’t seem like a viable career path. She says she didn’t feel brave enough to choose writing over law at the time and didn’t even know what the path to becoming a writer looked like.
Yet throughout her legal career, Emily continued writing – crafting scenes in her car between school pickups or squeezing in some writing time while working three days a week. In fact, Emily says that most of Matia was written in those stolen moments between obligations.
How to leave law for writing: making the leap
Eventually, Emily reached a fork in the road. Working three days a week as what she jokingly called “Australia’s oldest senior associate,” she confronted a fundamental question: what comes next?
For those wondering how to leave law for writing, Emily’s insight is crucial: something has to give. Whilst her decision to choose writing meant accepting she’d never earn that lawyer salary again, it also meant giving herself permission to move towards the life she wanted to create without waiting for external validation.
Advice from a lawyer turned author
When asked about how to leave law for writing, Emily emphasises that you have to give yourself permission to start writing and you also just have to make time for it.
She also distinguishes between the joy of writing and the journey of getting published. The latter requires patience and a willingness to give yourself a significant period of time to make it work.
But the core message for aspiring lawyers turned authors is simple: start now. The best time to begin your transition from law to writing might have been twenty years ago, but the second-best time is today.
Emily’s debut novel Matia is available now through UWA Publishing
