Practice Groups

Sitting in the Corporate Advisory team I have found that I am combining a number of areas of law I studied at University. Company law, Securities Law and Competition Law all came up. It was great to see the theories we learn about in action in the real world. Given the size of the Corporate team the work is always varied, fast paced and exciting, all of which make for a vibrant and energised atmosphere.

I was in litigation over summer - you get to sink your teeth into legal issues, as opposed to other groups which have a large transaction focus. In essence what I have been doing isn’t far off writing an opinion at law school. We are confronted with a legal problem (often less farfetched than ones we see in exams) and have to give our opinion on how the law will affect our client in those circumstances. A project that may take days or weeks at University was needed by a Partner within hours. This time pressure certainly refines your legal research skills, teaching you how to produce good-quality work quickly.

I spent my summer in tax. It was an entirely new area of law for me and the team was great. There were extra trainings for the summer clerks that helped me get my head around some basic tax law and I got to present at the national team training one week. I sat in a partner’s office so I also got to see some major transactions in process.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in the Finance team. We worked on establishing and refinancing loans, and set up programmes for banks to raise money overseas. While the work was very specialised, the problems to be solved are really interesting. It's fascinating to understand the strategy and drivers behind the transaction, as well as watch the interactions between all the parties to a deal.

Half advocacy and half advisory, RM is at a perfect crossroads between policy and litigation. Russell McVeagh’s National Resource Management team is top notch and at the forefront of law change, with Senior Partner and all-round guru Derek Nolan editing New Zealand’s leading text on the subject. Solicitors in the RM team do work for all four partners, which means a varied and interesting mixture of work across both offices.

The Property team was great! Although we often discuss subjects I’ve studied at law school, the work is a lot more ‘hands on’ and it’s great being able to follow a transaction through from start to finish and really understand all the steps involved. Every clerk gets to run a file on a Residential Sale and Purchase transaction, taking your ‘client’ from the initial meeting all the way through to settlement. Interacting with another clerk as ‘opposing council’ was not only fun but very interesting to experience the kind of processes a lawyer does on a day to day basis.

I spent the summer working in the Auckland Public Regulatory and Competition team, as part of the public branch. Our work involves advising clients on regulatory, legislative and policy issues. It is really interesting work, where you get a real understanding of policy issues and processes. The team works with a number of bodies, commissions and governmental departments. Completing public law at university really provides a good background for the work that the team undertakes.