38 Years of Change at Legal People

In this article we celebrate the extraordinary career of Colleen Tankard on the occasion of her retirement from her role as Partner at Legal People. It’s been 38 amazing years! 

When Colleen first walked into Legal People’s office in 1987, the legal recruitment landscape, and Melbourne looked very different. The firm was perched on the 9th floor of 99 Queen Street, a bustling office of around ten people, typewriters humming, phones ringing off the hook, and a junior staff member racing across town with manila envelopes packed with freshly typed CVs.

Nearly four decades later, as Colleen retires from her role as Partner, she leaves behind not only an extraordinary legacy of professionalism, loyalty, and warmth, but also a first-hand account of how an entire industry transformed around her.

Beginnings and Early Days

Before joining Legal People, Colleen was a HR Manager at a law firm and a client of the agency she would one day help build. Drawn to the people-focused side of HR, she took a chance on a job ad and soon found herself working alongside founders Bob and Sue Henderson. “I had been a client, and my sister had also been placed by them, so I picked up the phone. Within days I was sitting across from Bob and Sue—it just felt right.”

During her time at Legal People, Colleen has been a bit of a “Jill-of-all-trades” and has had many job titles including Support Recruitment Consultant, Temp Consultant, Office Manager and even Bookkeeper.

In her early days with Legal People, job ads were placed by phone in The Age or Herald Sun—dictated line by line to a newspaper operator. This took all of Thursday afternoons and then Mondays were a whirlwind, with the switchboard lighting up as candidates called to apply for jobs they’d seen in Saturday’s paper. CVs were typed up by one of 3 secretaries and placed into presentation folders, and hand-delivered, sometimes by the candidates themselves! Many of the weekly job applications and candidate CVs would arrive in the mail and sometimes they were received via DX (Australian Document Exchange / AUSDOC). In those early days Colleen placed Word Processing Operators, Accounts staff and even tea ladies!

“There were no mobile phones, no email, no internet,” Colleen recalls. “If you wanted to reach someone, you picked up the phone or popped into their office.”

The Evolution of the Office

From the 9th floor, 99 Queen Street to newer, more modern spaces and then eventually remote working, the Legal People office has changed shape many times, but some things have stayed the same. “Treating candidates and clients with respect and building genuine long-term relationships that’s always been Legal People’s foundation,” Colleen says.

In the early days, the many temps on the Legal People books dropped by on a Friday afternoon to collect their pay cheques in person. Fridays were a challenging day because the temps would phone their hours into the office in the morning, and the cheques would need to be ready for pick up in the afternoon! “It was a bit of a weekly social event,” she laughs. “We’d chat about their week, their roles, and often end up placing them many times in their careers.”

After the 30-40 temps left the Legal People office, they then had to line up at various banks around town to bank their cheques!

It was that spirit of connection and developing long term relationships with candidates and clients that Colleen believes, has contributed to Legal People’s longevity. “People didn’t move around as much back then, and you really got to know them over many years. That sense of care and continuity has never changed.”

The Technology Revolution

Recruitment technology has come a long way! In the early days Legal People used Kalamazoo ledgers and carbon paper payslips whereas now they use more sophisticated platforms like JobAdder, Microsoft Teams and LinkedIn. In the early years, fax use became widespread for a time “We’d tell a client a CV was coming through, and they’d literally run to the fax machine to collect it,” Colleen recalls.

As systems evolved out of filing cabinets and into databases, email and online job boards, the pace of recruitment also accelerated.

People and Relationships

Across four decades, Colleen has seen consultants, candidates, and clients come and go but the best ones, she says, share the same traits. “Consistency, communication, and kindness. The recruiters who check in, who build relationships, who genuinely care, they’re the ones who last.”

She’s also seen generations of support staff and lawyers progress through their careers, from receptionists to partners. “At Legal People, our team has placed people multiple times across their lives. Some of those relationships have turned into real friendships.”

Surviving the Tough Times

Through economic recessions, the stock market crash of the 80s, the GFC, and the COVID-19 pandemic, Colleen has very much been the glue helping to hold the team together. “People were walking into the office in tears during the “recession we had to have” in the early 90’s, having lost their jobs in a restructure and worried about losing their homes,” she remembers. “But our team kept going, supporting our clients and candidates through it all.”

Her loyalty, compassion, hard work and commitment have played a big part in Legal People’s enduring culture and one of the reasons they have recently celebrated their 50^th anniversary.

A Legacy of Loyalty

In 1989, Colleen was made a Partner by Bob Henderson, which was a recognition of her hard work, administrative skills and integrity. Colleen considers it her proudest career achievement.  “Bob just wandered in one day and told me that’s what he was going to do. He wanted to give me authority within the business and also recognition of my efforts.”

Since then, Colleen has been a steady presence through every change, “Legal People is a family. We’ve supported each other through everything, ill health, loss, and success. That’s rare, and it’s what’s kept me here all these years.”

As she steps into retirement, Colleen says she’ll miss the people most. “The friendships, the laughter, the shared history. She still catches up with former staff members regularly. “Those bonds don’t end when you leave the office.”

Looking Back—and Forward

Asked what advice she’d give her younger self, Colleen doesn’t hesitate. “Have more confidence. Don’t second-guess yourself.”

After 38 years, she leaves behind a company she helped shape. It is one built on trust, respect, and genuine connection. The tools may have changed, but the heart of Legal People hasn’t.

As the team celebrates her incredible milestone, one thing is certain: Colleen’s legacy isn’t just in the placements she made in those early days, but in the systems, processes and culture she helped build, one that is defined by warmth, professionalism, and care.

We thank Colleen for her loyalty, hard work and contribution to the industry and to Legal People and wish her all the best in her retirement.

Get in touch today to start a conversation about your legal career. You can contact us at info@legalpeople.com.au.