Hello again beautiful listeners. This episode I went to Auckland to sit down with the Law Society's current president, Kathryn Beck, who is also a partner at employment firm SBM Legal. We had a delicious wide-ranging conversation about her career as an employment lawyer, her longstanding involvement in different parts of the Law Society, her vision for the best future for law in New Zealand, her advice to new lawyers, her thoughts on mental health for lawyers, and her joy and love for the practice of law. It is always wonderful to watch someone who loves what they do, do what they do, and now you all get to listen along to that too. There is so much in this discussion, feel free to take it in bits if need be, with breaks for refreshment etc.
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This week's episode is almost a case study for episode 15. I talked to Anna, a third year litigation solicitor at a mid-sized firm about how she found some moderation in her all-or-nothing personality type. The answer seems to lie in the direction of self awareness and a great law firm culture, with a touch of mindfulness practice thrown in. I particularly loved getting into what makes her workplace so supportive of sustainable success; it's a recipe for us all. We also had lovely chats about how she came to work at that firm in only second year of law school, and her experiences as a young woman lawyer (there is even some comeuppance, listeners!). I do hope you enjoy.
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This episode is a bit different from others in that Mike is not himself a lawyer, but he treats lawyers in his practice as a clinical psychologist and basically wrote a book about us, so it counts. We discussed all or nothing personalities (of course), the antidote to the extreme versions of that personality, the consequences of letting your all or nothing nature rule your life, and what life looks and feels like when it's not quite so all or nothing.
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Hello listeners, lovely to see you again. There is no podcast episode this fortnight, but luckily The New Lawyer is now also a column in LawTalk, so diehard fans can have a supplementary dose that way to tide them over to next time. If you do not receive a hard copy you can read online over here. With the column I plan to offer ideas and reflections for new lawyers on many of the same topics covered by the podcast, but in full sentences with punctuation and everything. I am especially pleased that the editorial staff chose this issue to adopt my recommendation that more dogs feature on the cover of the magazine. The cows on issue 902 were a nice diversion, but really it's the dogs we've been hankering for since issue 894, amiright? I am right.
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This episode I interviewed Eric Yu, a third year solicitor at Christchurch's Community Law office. We talked about so much wonderful stuff, including the virtues of volunteering for Community Law and the breadth of experience you can get there, how to deal with mistakes when they inevitably occur, the imperfect and sometimes unjust nature of our legal system, and how to cope with emotional fatigue and gloom at systemic injustice. It was so great.
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You guys. This episode. So cool. Mahafrin was born in India, mostly raised in Dubai, and immigrated with her family to New Zealand when she was 15. She practises in an immigration and refugee law firm in Auckland. She attended an international human rights conference a couple of years ago that you might want to attend in Sydney this year. In the episode we discuss all of this, values clashes, racial and gender prejudice, and law as purpose, and she picks my brain on advancement in litigation. It's wonderful.
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George the law student/barristers' clerk joins me this episode for a micro discussion on life as a junior in a barristers' chambers and how he got the job in the first place, as well as how much a little confidence goes a long way in the world of autonomous legal practice.
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In this episode I speak to Clayton Carrick-Leslie about all sorts, but focusing on two key areas: (1) career paths and options, including part time work, inhouse counsel work and law-related management and leadership work, and (2) depression, suicide, quarterlife crises, and how to live and work amidst these things. Clayton talks about his own experiences with depression and the impact of a friend's suicide at a Sydney law firm and why in his experience corporations have better cultures than law firms. It was a fun and joyful chat, complete with impromptu brainstorming session about what to do when you're in acute distress at work, though of course the trigger warning goes (almost) without saying.
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Una Jagose QC, New Zealand's Solicitor General, sat down with me to talk about her career in the public sector and her thoughts on work and lawyering. It was such a lovely chat, with so much delicious chunky wisdom and insight, and with such a tone of ease and fun, I keep tugging people on the sleeve and telling them to listen to it. If you're reading this, take it as a virtual sleeve-tug and get to listening yourself.
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Well. I don't need to tell you guys how cool this episode is, but it really was very cool. We spent most of the episode discussing the results of Josh's research, but not before we discussed Josh's own legal career, which to date has included a Supreme Court clerkship, work for a rule of law-based NGO in Myanmar, and now a Masters degree at Harvard.
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This is just a quick note to say Merry Christmas and happy summer break to all you new lawyers out there, and to let you know that we will be taking a short break too, returning 9 January 2017.
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In this episode I talk to Coroner Marcus Elliott about his career and his writing. His career includes barristers' chambers, small firms, large firms, the Royal Commission of Inquiry following the Christchurch earthquakes, the legal departments of County Boroughs in the UK, a pub, and now the Coronial Court, so there is much to cover.
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In this episode I interview Tom, an S2 at the Public Defence Service, about life as a junior criminal defence lawyer.
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Well. This was a rich and important episode. I spoke with Robin, a now senior solicitor but former mental health practitioner about his career and the issue of mental health in the New Zealand legal profession (you can see why we ran long).
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Well, what an episode. Justice Glazebrook of New Zealand's Supreme Court was kind enough to sit down with me and talk in depth about several issues raised in the Pemberton Report for junior lawyers, confidence and imposter syndrome, gender bias and discrimination, and the expectation-vs-reality issue for new lawyers.
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In this episode Brannavan, a senior solicitor in Buddle Findlay's property and litigation teams in Wellington, talks daily practice in big law, checking your ego, and how to balance creative passions alongside your legal practice.
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In this episode Emily, a property solicitor with six years' experience in Invercargill and Christchurch, talks to Katie about life as a new lawyer, stress management, her experience as a woman in law, and the work of the Christchurch Young Lawyer Committee.
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Welcome to the New Lawyer Podcast, the newest podcast for the New Zealand legal profession. In this introductory episode Katie walks you though what we are doing and why.
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