Where do you work, what’s your role?
I am senior legal counsel for The Warehouse Group. In addition to The Warehouse brand, we also own Noel Leeming and Warehouse Stationery, which not a lot of people know about. My role is varied, spanning property and general commercial work, and I’m part of a team of four in-house lawyers.
Where did you study?
Auckland University. I have a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Laws. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to study law or science, so decided to study both. I was quite lucky as it was one of the first years that the university allowed law and science to be studied together.
What’s been your career to date?
I started my career at MinterEllisonRuddWatts, in the property team, and was there for a few years. I then moved to Hesketh Henry (a slightly smaller firm), also on the property team. I then did what so many other lawyers do and went to London. In London I was working on property finance transactions through the GFC. It was a very interesting time to be doing property finance and my work expanded to include restructuring and insolvency. I also spent a period doing mental health law, representing clients detained under the Mental Health Act. My time in London was quite varied and enjoyable from a work perspective. I was lucky to have exposure to areas of practice that otherwise wouldn’t have come my way.
I returned to New Zealand in mid 2010 and rejoined Hesketh Henry’s commercial property team. I was there for a few more years before deciding I wanted to experience working in-house. I moved to a role at Auckland Council, which was a good transition from private practice. After three years I was approached about a position at The Warehouse Group, and I’ve been with the company for five years.
How long have you been involved with The Law Association committees and which committees have you worked with?
I’ve been involved with the CPD committee since 2012 and became the convenor two years ago, after Geoff Hardy stepped down. I was approached by The Law Association to see if I was interested in taking over the convenor role. It was a bit daunting because Geoff had done such a fantastic job. I decided to take the opportunity and haven’t regretted it.
Why is committee work important?
It’s about making a real difference to the profession. The Law Association’s focus is to be the premier provider of legal CPD to the legal community. That’s our goal and we strive to achieve it. The other thing people might not know is you can have input into our committee, even if you’re not a member. We encourage anybody to contact us if they’ve got suggestions for CPD or something they need that they feel isn’t being provided. All our contact details are on The Law Association website under the committees tab.
How do The Law Association committees make a difference?
There are about 18 committees, and they all have different focuses and roles. Our committee’s focus is perhaps slightly different as we are inwardly focused, looking into the profession. It’s all about supporting members and providing them with quality CPD events.
The membership of our committee is varied. It’s important that it reflects the membership of The Law Association because we need the experience of the committee members to be able to provide CPD that’s relevant to all members. We are always looking for new members for our committee and there’s no requirement to have a certain level of experience or to work in a certain area of law. We want members from all stages and specialties of the profession so we can get good representation across the issues practitioners are facing. We also feed into other committees to help us develop specific CPD offerings, making sure we’re targeting the CPD to exactly what members want.
How do you see the role of a committee convenor? What specific skills do you think a convenor needs?
It’s around facilitating discussion. We’ve got such amazing members on the CPD committee, so my job is about drawing out all their knowledge and expertise and putting it on the table.
What is your biggest frustration as a convenor?
Probably time or technology. In terms of meeting technology, we’ve got quite a large committee. It can be a bit of a challenge when you’re doing a hybrid or online meeting, making sure everybody can be seen and heard. That’s something we’re currently working on improving.
For our committee members, probably the biggest frustration is that the older model of meetings doesn’t provide accessibility for people who don’t work in the CBD or who might work outside Auckland. The challenge is to try and keep the collegiality aspect while enabling people to join the committee no matter where they’re based and still get that same experience.
What’s been the most notable achievement or biggest focus of your committee over the past few years? Why was that important?
It would have to be the volume of CPD events. Last year, the CPD team, guided by the CPD committee, put on close to 70 CPD events. That’s a huge achievement. There’s a large team behind the committee which does a huge amount of work to produce that CPD program.
The advantage of The Law Association’s CPD is the involvement from members of the profession in developing the program and specific events. It’s CPD designed for practitioners, by practitioners. That’s our strength, making sure we’re producing CPD that provides what members need.
Over the past year, has your committee made submissions on a parliamentary bill or any consultation paper?
No, we have a different role/focus than other Law Association committees.
What would you say to anyone thinking of becoming involved in a Law Association committee?
Get involved; it’s a fantastic opportunity. You get to contribute and meet and work with some amazing people. I think there might be some idea that you need to have more experience or live in Auckland. That’s not the case. We would be keen to hear from people across New Zealand, particularly in the areas of law where most of our members practise (property, trusts, family, employment and commercial) to get in touch. We’re always looking for new members and new ideas.
What’s the biggest issue facing your committee and the development of CPD at the moment? And how does that affect lawyers and their clients?
Talking about CPD in general, the biggest issue is the increasing amount of knowledge that all lawyers are required to have (regardless of their practice area) in order to provide quality service to their clients. There are increasing amounts of regulation, and technology changes. The issue is the sheer amount of knowledge and upskilling that members of the profession need to stay current and effective.
What’s the best kept secret about The Law Association?
You don’t have to be a lawyer and you don’t have to live in Auckland to be a member. It’s an association for everybody involved in the legal profession in New Zealand. Legal executives, practice managers, anybody can be a member and contribute. You don’t have to be a lawyer to be on the CPD committee, just a member of The Law Association.
What is the biggest issue facing the legal profession right now?
We need to work on improving the wellbeing of members, both physical and mental. What we’ve done previously hasn’t worked or served the profession as well as it might have. Our profession is characterised by high stress and long hours, and we need to make sure people are supported. I think it’s about looking at historic habits that haven’t served us well and changing them. Part of that is looking at what we can do to make sure that the law is diverse across all levels of the profession. Focusing on mental health and wellbeing will also help to ensure diversity. It’s being representative across all levels, focusing on things that are holding people back from achieving, and making sure everybody feels supported.
Have you done any media interviews/ provided any statements to the media in the past year as a committee convenor and spokesperson for ADLS/The Law Association?
No.
What is your vision for the legal profession in 2050?
I would like to see a diverse profession where members feel supported and able to achieve balance in prioritising both their work life and mental and physical wellbeing.
What do you think The Law Association could do to improve its offering to members?
Continue to build the national focus, reinforcing that we’re there for all members in the entire country.
To find out more about the professional, collegiality, and networking opportunities associated with being involved in The Law Association committee work, contact Daniel.Conway@thelawassociation.nz or Moira.McFarland@thelawassociation.nz.
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