While the level of work remained the same for the commercial lawyer, the biggest change had been the feeling of responsibility and that was multi-faceted, she said – from the responsibility to clients to do good legal work, to the partnership to be a good business partner and to those who worked in the Vogel St office, through teaching and investing in them.
There was also a responsibility to be part of the wider community and the region and to leave the firm better than when she started there.
The firm had been around for 150 years in several iterations – ‘‘and for a moment in time, we are part of the guardianship of that firm’’.
The responsibility of that was both a privilege and a weight, she said.
Ms Hunter-Hills, one of the law firm’s three new partners, is a Dunedin girl who initially studied commerce at the University of Otago but found that it was not her thing.
So she left and worked in retail for 18 months which provided valuable insight into client services which was useful in her legal career.
That break gave her time to think about what was important to her and what she might like to try. So when she returned to university, she picked a host of papers she thought she would enjoy, including English, history, anthropology and politics.
She enjoyed politics the most and completed an arts degree, majoring in politics. It was in her third year of politics that she did first year law and then went on to complete a law degree.
After working for a smaller firm in the city, she joined Gallaway Cook Allan in 2016. She specialises in corporate, commercial and property law.
A law degree did not necessarily mean a law career had to follow. It provided such a robust grounding that it could be used as a platform for many different careers, Ms Hunter-Hills said.
There was a diverse range of careers among those she went to law school with, from embassy work to policy work – ‘‘people living all over the world doing amazing things.’’
For her, Gallaway Cook Allan was an exciting and dynamic workplace.
Ms Hunter-Hills is on the board of the Louise Davie Charitable Trust and the John Lemon Charitable Trust. Both had connections and relationships that were meaningful to her. With two young children, she would not take on a role that she did not think she could do justice to, she said.
Astrid Bond grew up in a rural area between Rotorua and Tauranga and moved south to study science and law at the University of Otago.
She had done well at maths and science at school, and also had an interest in law from an early age. Her parents suggested she pursue it.
Prior to joining Gallaway Cook Allan in 2017, she worked in a hospitality management role. Not knowing initially if she wanted to work as a lawyer in a practice, she found that she loved it – particularly working with clients and the problem-solving element.
Part of the property team, much of her work was with farmers and she found that particularly rewarding. She never took for granted that her position was a trusted adviser role.
The culture was very good at Gallaway Cook Allan and she felt fortunate to have worked there and had the opportunities the firm had afforded her.
While she gave up her governance positions last year due to her father being unwell, she had an interest in governance and would likely return to it one day. She was previously a committee member on the Otago Women’s Law Society and the Green Island Combined Sports Body.
Sam Wells, who joined Gallaway Cook Allan in 2015, is in the dispute resolution team, specialising in general civil and commercial litigation. He was previously a professional cricketer and is now selection manager for the Black Caps.
Brought up in Dunedin, Mr Wells said he chose to study law because he ‘‘wasn’t any good at maths or science’’.
He also enjoyed the problem-solving side of his work.
Law was a job which was not always an academic exercise; it required common sense and people skills. Ultimately, it was about dealing with people and helping them with their problems or getting a deal done, so understanding what a client wanted and needed.
With his cricket commitments and need to sometimes watch games in the middle of the night, he acknowledged that life could be busy at times.
‘‘It’s definitely a juggle trying to balance it all as best I can,’’ he said.
While it would be easier to be based elsewhere, particularly since flights had got a lot worse this year, he and his wife were both Dunedin-born and bred and moving was not an option.
He loved working at Gallaway Cook Allan, which had been very supportive, and the couple, who have three young daughters, were committed to Dunedin.
The keen golfer – Ms Hunter-Hills reckoned they heard more about golf than cricket – is president of the Bayfield Kindergarten committee and a committee member of the Albion Cricket Club. He saw being involved in the community as important, helping out where he could.
sally.rae@odt.co.nz
