Chris and Margaret Leahy are settling in at Glen Innes after making the move from Sydney.

A practising barrister is not usually the type of person associated with making a tree change, and Mr Leahy admits as much.

Only since the start of the year had their thoughts of a move become ‘serious’ and they began to ‘look around’.

“I’ve been barrister for more than 30 years and a senior counsel for 10, and although I had thoroughly enjoyed what I had done, I thought it was time to try something else.”

The clincher came when Mr Leahy saw an advertisement in a law journal: local law firm, Liston and Clifton, looking for a litigation lawyer.

“My experience bore no resemblance to the advertisement, but I emailed the firm and said so but that my wife and I were thinking of a move would you be interested in having a chat,” he said.

The region is not a social outpost for the Leahys, as they have relatives not far away in Warwick and Toowoomba.

Mrs Leahy, a garden designer/horticulturist, has always had a keen interest in the New England area.

Having left the bar, Mr Leahy is now a solicitor again, and has ‘absolutely no plans for retirement’.

Indeed, he is looking forward to the challenging but interesting wider range of work in a country practice than he has been used to as a barrister.

The couple will eventually buy a property in Glen Innes but are currently leasing - a lovely old home 3km out of town on about 10 acres’.

While only in the town for two weeks, the Leahys are enthusiastic about what they have seen and are happy with the move.

“It’s the little things we have found pleasing,” Mr Leahy said.

“People are incredibly welcoming, and things like driving to work - no traffic, no traffic lights, it takes just minutes to get a park.

“And we have the impression that the important facilities are well covered, we’re pretty well looked after.”