For 35 years Lance Cordingley has held the hand of countless locals as they navigated life’s legal matters from his law practice on Main Street.
And although he envisioned continuing to do so well into his senior years, he said government bureaucracy has led him to retire and from June he will shut his office door.
Lance’s career in law began in 1987 when he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Queensland and High Court of Australia after graduating from his law degree at the University of Queensland.
He began working for a large law firm in Brisbane and for a few years specialised in family law but quickly realised it wasn’t for him.
“In the late 80s it was a bit dangerous,” he recalled.
“There was a bombing in the family court in Sydney, so tensions were high and emotions were rampant.
“I had a couple of large gentlemen visit me late one night, which thankfully didn’t end up in bloodshed, but was unnerving.”
Early on his career he also ruled out continuing in criminal law.
“As a young practitioner it was interesting going into Boggo Road Gaol to take statements from a client. The foreboding atmosphere that you feel as soon as you enter the gates,” he explained.
“I wasn’t too keen on criminal work after that.”
Lance grew up on a cattle property in Tallai and as a child was a frequent visitor to Tamborine Mountain.
In 1991 he and his wife, Ruth, decided to get away from Brisbane and raise their children in a small community.
He worked as a partner at Slingsby and Cordingley and in 2006 bought the practice, which became Lance Cordingley Law.
“I was able to stick with the work I enjoyed and keep the costs down for local families,” he said.
During that time he has offered advice and support in property and commercial matters as well as wills and estates for many on the mountain, including multigenerational families.
“Practicing on the mountain improves your perception of people. The clients on the whole were terrific: loyal and supportive and understanding and thankfully not too many bad experiences with clients,” he shared.
“Practicing law allows us to dabble in a wide variety of people’s occupations. It opens your eyes to a wide range of things.”
However, he said being a sole practitioner and not having others to bounce ideas off could also be challenging and losing fellow practitioner, John Tiley, when he stopped working on the mountain was a blow.
Lance said saying goodbye to his wonderful clients will be the hardest part of retirement.
“The clients are really the focus that have kept me in this branch of law instead of going to the bar because I enjoyed the contact with them immensely,” he said.
“It’s been quite fulfilling acting for three generations in a family; to have that continuity with them and appreciate that you have a good understanding of their circumstances.”
Along with his law practice, Lance is well known on the mountain for his involvement in a number of community organisations and he said retirement will allow him to explore and become involved with new ones.
For more than a decade he has been president of the Tamborine Mountain Bowls Club and was chair of Club Tamborine for a few years and is a life member.
In 2023 he received life membership of the bowls club and has a number of club championships under his belt.
As president he said his aim has been to increase membership and community participation.
He was president of Tamborine Mountain Community Care for a number of years and is currently chairperson of Tamborine Mountain College, which his three sons attended.
He was also a founding member and the honorary solicitor for the Bushrats Rugby League club.
For now, Lance is looking forward to having his first decent holiday in more than a decade and he and Ruth plan to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary in Europe.
