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Hello lovely listeners. Today I have December's column for summer clerks, which holds truths applicable not only to summer clerks. Unfortunately in the editing process the numbers of my numbered list got taken out, but I hope you will muscle through anyway.
Read MoreSome of you may not be aware but I write a New Lawyer column for LawTalk every month. They are a joy to write because I do not have to write in the style of a legal text book and sometimes they let me mention my dog. It's great.
Read MoreHello 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.
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreWell. 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).
Read MoreIn this episode solicitor of 10 years Sam Benton talks to Katie about his career in human rights law and later regulatory enforcement, moving from New Zealand to practise in the UK, musical theatre, male mental health and access to justice issues.
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