In this episode, we are joined by Willie Hamilton, a senior generalist litigator who made his way up by throwing himself into it. From his self-proclaimed casual performance at University to a top tier national law firm in Chapman Tripp, Willie shares how he managed to absorb experience from a range of places, situations and people and borrow their best for himself. Willie's purpose of coming on the podcast aligned nicely with the overall reason for creating it - to reach juniors with stories from seniors as a means to relay information that might be beneficial. Willie talks about opportunity ..read more

This episode was a really fun one to put together. Sunny and Sam have known each other for years so it was a bit like old times. This conversation with Sunny is focussed on Criminal Law and the competing elements of Prosecution and Defence. During the early parts of Sunny's career he was immersed in Defence with the Public Defence Service before his more recent few years doing Prosecution on behalf of the Crown. We tap into this unique perspective to reveal what the role of each lawyer looks like, how to navigate moral conflict whilst doing the best for your client and what the future of crimi ..read more

In the first episode of Season 2, we sat down with Derek Roth-Biester, a Corporate (TMT) Partner from Anderson Lloyd's Queenstown office. Derek has been around computers and technology since he was young fella, always finding interest in them and their potential. Derek's professional career as a Lawyer has taken him all around the globe and landing in the adventure capital of the world recently. Derek's fascination with technology, and more recently Artificial Intelligence is infectious. He has a deep understanding of available tools, their purposes and limitations and has some opinions of whe ..read more

In this episode, we discuss the world of Digital Assets with James Cochrane, a Partner in Lane Neave's national dispute resolution team. James has had a broad career spanning large top tier Firms with challenging and intricate work to specialist practice building and really honing in on his now-refined speciality. In this discussion, we visit James' passion for Cryptocrurrency and how his interest in the subject matter helped morph his thinking and skill-acquisition. James describes various laws surrounding digital assets and the remaining grey area in the legislation that supports it. To list ..read more

In this episode we sit down with Fiona McMillan, an elite Employment and Health & Safety Partner in Lane Neave's Auckland office. Fi's career has seen her faced with many opportunities, from starting out in Christchurch to opening an office in Auckland. Hear from Fi around what different opportunities you could be presented with and those you might need to search or fight for. Fi has consistently been recognised for her work across some of the industry's major media publications and awards issuers but remains humble, loyal to her family and her firm and has a great time doing it. To listen ..read more

In this episode we explore Emma's backgrounds in Private Practice (8 years) and her In-house Government experience (8 years), and discuss the differences she has experienced first hand between the two of them, in the field of Corporate Commercial Law.‍ Emma began her career as a Russell McVeagh Scholar and moved to the capital for the biggest opportunity of her young career. She spent 4 years learning the ropes of a large corporate culture before moving to a new mid-tier firm in Morrison Mallett.‍ Having amassed some 8 years in Private Practice, Emma decided to try her hand fighting the good f ..read more

In this episode we are joined by Ana Coculescu - an internationally-qualified, Senior Associate at Dentons Kensington Swan in the field of European Union Law, Resource Management and ESG. ‍ We track Ana's career from Romania, France, Australia and ultimately to New Zealand where she now specialises in ESG, or Environmental, Social and Governance. This ESG concept is not as widely talked about as employment, family or commercial law and there is no legislation supporting it currently. We explore the broad scope of it, how it applies to organisations and where it could go next. ‍ Ana is a passio ..read more

In this episode, we are fortunate to have one of New Zealand's leading environmental law specialists, Sarah Scott from Simpson Grierson. Sarah has amassed a whopping 17 years at SG that have seen her gain immense exposure to various areas in the law and the opportunity to specialise and grow where she now practices. We delve into her expertise and knowledge of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and what has been happening here recently. With two new pieces of legislation set to be phased in over the next 10 years, Scottie shares her thoughts on why it was necessary, what we have now and wh ..read more

In this episode we are joined by the effervescent Bec Robertson from the QLDC, who leads the Corporate Commercial function for the southern region. Bec is all about having a person-first approach, a growth mindset and a positive attitude towards life and work. We discuss the benefits and barriers to being forward-thinking in the modern world and put some real-life examples to it. Bec discusses how a progressive approach can benefit the lawyer as a human being, as well as the quality and efficiency of their work. She employs a task-based, project management approach to her work that she finds s ..read more

In this episode we are joined by tech wizard Peter Fernando from Duncan Cotterill's partnership, who specialises in TMT under the Corporate Commercial umbrella. Generative Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic with the introduction of more tools this year in 2023 than ever before. But the written law surrounding AI hasn't changed since the Privacy Act was passed in 1993 or in more recent versions (2020) - only the subject matter has. Peter discusses the three biggest legal risks he sees in the everyday use of these tools, how his background sparked his interest in the field and his ..read more