Daniel Wan’s career journey is anything but conventional. After beginning in legal practice and the Attorney General’s Department of NSW, he went on to work across investment banking, accounting, capital markets, and technology before ultimately founding his own startup, FlavourIQ. Reflecting on his time at Sydney Law School, Daniel credits the experience with building the critical thinking and resilience that shaped his multifaceted career — while encouraging current students to stay open to unexpected opportunities beyond traditional legal pathways.

What’s your favourite memory from your time at Sydney Law School?

I really enjoyed my Independent Research Project - an undergraduate 'thesis' so to speak. Mine was on the sentencing considerations of local court magistrates for high range PCA (Prescribed Consumption of Alcohol or drink driving). I started with a statistical anomaly - in one NSW local court, ~45% of high range PCA offenders (high range drink drivers) were awarded a Section 10 under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) - finding them guilty of the offence but with no conviction recorded or fine imposed, effectively providing a second chance at a clean record. Meanwhile, at another NSW local court, less than 1% of high range PCA offenders received this leniency. Under the tutelage of the incomparable Professor Mark Findlay, I designed a study to compare on anonymous basis the different considerations various magistrates took into account when deciding such cases - and whether this was a feature or a shortcoming in the legal system. 

How did you get started in your legal career?

I was very lucky, in my 2nd year I found a part time job in civil claims at a small law firm on York St. The work was nothing fancy - the civil claims I worked on related to collecting moneys owed for phone bills or similar - but it involved drafting documents under the UCPR (Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005), and filing documents at the Downing Centre and North Sydney local court 3 times a week. That was a great experience. This eventually culminated in me doing a year long internship with the Attorney General's Dept of NSW. This was an incredible experience, working in court as the Court Officer, interacting with Public Defenders, interacting directly with magistrates including the Chief and Deputy Chief Magistrate, and in civil claims - where I used to file documents from the other side of the counter.