Friends, family, colleagues and members of the judiciary gathered at the Northern Club in Auckland on Thursday 20 October for a dinner, hosted by ADLS, to celebrate the career and retirement of veteran lawyer Arthur Young.
Young, aged 87, had been a partner at Chapman Tripp for most of his career, his wife (and former Chapman Tripp partner) Helen Melrose said, ever since Sheffield Young, the firm he joined as a rookie lawyer 65 years ago, merged with Chapman Tripp. He specialised in private client work, including family trusts and succession planning, and some clients have been with him for more than 40 years.
But he won’t be giving up work altogether and still has a handful of clients on his books. When asked about his favourite type of client in an interview with LawNews earlier this year, Young said he’d always gravitated towards people rather than corporate balance sheet. In introducing him at last Thursday’s dinner, ADLS President Marie Dyhrberg KC revealed that her first job after graduating from law school was with his firm, Sheffield Young & Ellis.
Melrose told guests her husband had “many fabulous qualities”, including a commitment to serving clients, his firm and the community; fairness; courage and innovation.
Corporate clients appreciated these qualities, she said, especially when finding themselves in a tight spot. Young had a “deeply thoughtful” approach, was far-sighted and could be relied upon to find solutions to complex problems. But alongside these corporate clients, he also provided excellent service to families with fewer resources.
“The thing about Arthur is that fundamentally he loves the law, he loves the ordering of society that laws provide and the logic of law. He loves that it can be applied to bring fair and just outcomes,” Melrose said.
“Arthur is an energetic and positive force. His legal and business advice is always provided with a good shot of realism and clarity. He is a terrific human being and a terrific lawyer.”
Young spoke of the foresight of his colleague Joe Sheffield who in the 1950s dreamed of branching out into commercial law at a time when a major commercial transaction was the sale of a corner dairy or a residential land deal. This became embedded in Young’s DNA as the firm expanded, strengthened and merged.
Young said he particularly loved the grey areas of the law – what he calls “real law”. “Some of the black letter stuff is actually quite easy. It’s at the interface where judgment calls have to be made.
0 Comments