Nicola Walsh

5.50 AM

My alarm goes off every weekday at 5.50 am. I have exactly 10 minutes to get myself sorted and on my way to the gym before my class starts at 6.10 am. Luckily, the gym is only about a five-minute walk away, so I use that time to wake myself up. 

Heading to the gym and being active every morning is my favourite way to start the day – although I would be lying if I said I didn’t count down the days until I get a sleep in.

8.00 AM

My flatmates and I all work on/around Lambton Quay so we walk to work together every morning.

8.30 AM

Once I get to work I head to my desk, plug in my laptop, and look at my emails and calendar to see what I have on for the day.

9.00 AM

Now that I have a clearer idea of what my day ahead looks like, it's time for coffee! 

Usually, on Tuesdays we have our weekly teamwork in progress meeting where my Partner Cath Shirley-Brown takes us for a coffee and a scone (very lucky). However, this week it has been rescheduled to a later day.

But never fear - whoever is in need of a morning caffeine hit usually heads upstairs to the Den on Level 24 around this time to make use of the coffee machine. Although I have made many coffees on that thing, I still can't seem to crack frothing the milk.

9.30 AM

Daily fruit drop! Every morning between 9.30 am – 10.00 am fresh fruit is delivered to the Nest (our kitchen area). You can expect to see an influx of colleagues as soon as it hits the table!

10.00 AM

Once a month I travel to attend a client's board meeting to take the minutes. The February meeting is this week so I start turning my mind to what I need to do to prepare. 

The client has sent me the draft agenda, so I spend some time creating a template minutes document and fill in all of the information I have on hand such as the entity, location of the meeting, and the key agenda items.

I also make a list of the corporate documentation that I need to take with me (i.e., Company Constitution) and my keyboard and mouse – absolute essentials as taking minutes entails a lot of typing for a very long time! Luckily for me, I really enjoy typing and find drafting and finalising minutes very satisfying – not to mention the perk of being able to travel for work each month!

11.30 AM

This week, our Special Counsel Mike Loan held a session on Shareholders' Agreements. In this session, we went through a template Shareholders' Agreement that was primarily tailored to renewable projects.

I found it very useful considering our team comes into contact with Shareholders' Agreements regularly and this was a chance to go through each section and ask questions. I spend some time reviewing and tidying up my notes that I wrote down for future reference.

1.00 PM

Colleagues usually start gathering in the Nest for lunch or head outside to Midland Park if it's warm enough. A great perk of the Wellington office is its central location! 

2.00 PM

Over the last year, we have been advising a client on a long-form company amalgamation. This requires following a process set out in Part 13 of the Companies Act 1993 which includes obtaining both director and shareholder resolutions and approvals, providing certain notices and much more.

Today is the day the amalgamation is set to take place and complete. My afternoon is spent liaising with the Companies Office and attending to any completion related matters. Once it is completed, I send the completion confirmation email to our client.

I then review the post-amalgamation tasks and draft up an email to our client of what needs to be done now that the amalgamation has completed.

I have been working on this amalgamation since I started as a graduate and saw it from the beginning until the end which has been a challenging yet rewarding experience.

5.00 PM

I make sure my timesheet is completed, log off, pack up my things and say my goodbyes to the team before heading home for the day.

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