What's your job about?
I am a Law Graduate in the employment team at Dentons, based in the Wellington office. Dentons is a commercial law firm that provides clients with solutions to help across a broad swathe of issues. We have offices in both Auckland and Wellington, meaning that we deal with a range of clients across the public and private sector.
Our employment teams works broadly across general employment relations matters, health and safety, immigration, and conducts workplace investigations. As part of this work we are often involved in matters that require a variety of dispute resolution methods including investigations at the Employment Relations Authority, hearings at the Employment Court, and mediation.
As an employment law graduate, I get to experience a variety of tasks typical of legal practice. In my role, every day looks different. However, a typical week would include writing articles for external publication, drafting advice, preparing documents for a hearing, writing letters, and a lot of research.
What's your background?
I was born and raised in Porirua, Wellington, and since finishing college, I have lived in various flats in central Wellington. I studied Law and Arts (Māori Resource Management and Māori Studies) at Victoria University. I spent most of my time at university with Ngā Rangahautira and the Pasifika Law Students’ Society.
Before starting at Dentons, I worked at Te Puni Kōkiri. I had a variety of roles there, starting as an Intern, then moving through to an Advisor role and a Business Analyst. Those roles were all completely different to what I do currently.
One of my friends, who is also a graduate at Dentons Kensington Swan, notified me of an opportunity with the employment team. I applied for the role and met with the two partners in the Wellington employment team. I also got to have coffee with the rest of the team as part of the interview process, to ensure that I was the right fit for the team.
I have been at Dentons for 5 months now. Although this new role has challenged me, I am provided with so many opportunities to learn new things. Transitioning from law school to working in a law firm is not always easy, as the practical legal work done in law firms requires a more pragmatic approach to issues, rather than the strictly academic approach taught at university. However, the work is rewarding, and I enjoy being able to see my improvement, even in just the 5 months of working at Dentons.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Suppose someone wants to do the same job as you do, would that be also possible with a different background?
Yes and no – it depends. Ultimately, the legal profession is regulated, meaning there are strict requirements that need to be met in order to practice law. That includes a bachelors law degree, completing the law professionals course, admission as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court, and then obtaining a practicing certificate.
Outside of these requirements, people from many different backgrounds would flourish in my job. Anyone that likes reading, writing, and problem-solving would be well suited to a job at Dentons. Working in a law firm can be fast paced and will require you to complete tasks efficiently. It helps to be agile, as in any given day, you will canvas a variety of complex issues.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I enjoy seeing a piece of work through to the end. My past work experience has meant that often, I don’t get to see the ‘final’ piece of work as it is passed through many hands before it is finalised. What I enjoy most about this job is that issues are solved quickly, and I get to be a part of that process from start to finish.
My job is also surprisingly diverse, with everyday being different. If you were like me, and assumed that lawyers deal with the same mundane issues every day, you would be wrong! I am asked to research new issues almost daily, as we are frequently faced with issues that even the senior members of my team (who have spent their entire career practising law) have not come across before.
What are the limitations of your job?
Time-keeping is a limit on my job. When working in certain industries, such as in law firms, employees are to account for every 6 minutes of their time. That is so we can charge our clients at a rate that is an accurate reflection of the time we spent on their work. It can be hard to adjust, firstly, to keep tracking of every minute you spend at work. Secondly, it is difficult knowing that the longer you spend on something, the higher the cost is for the client.
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