Waikato law firm McCaw Lewis has appointed Laura Monahan, Dale Thomas and Amanda Hockley as Directors of the firm, rounding out an exciting year of updates for the Hamilton-based business.
The three new appointments acknowledge the leadership ability of Laura, Dale and Amanda, and recognise their excellent legal skills and talent for business management. They join the existing Director group of Phil Harris, Aidan Warren, Daniel Shore and Renika Siciliano.
Laura Monahan joined McCaw Lewis in 2012 and is the co-leader of the firm’s Commercial practise. Laura is passionate about the future of McCaw Lewis and working with her clients to achieve their goals. She enjoys working with her commercial clients to help them meet their business goals – essentially to get it done. Laura also has specialist knowledge in the area of Māori commercial matters, and assists Iwi clients to establish post-settlement governance entities, engage with key stakeholders and make arrangements to best manage assets. Outside of the office, Laura is the chairperson of the Waikato Family Centre Trust and a trustee on the Angel Casts Charitable Trust.
Dale Thomas leads the Property practise and joined the McCaw Lewis whānau in 2015. Dale has developed a broad range of skills working in Property, Commercial and Asset Planning on projects involving iwi property interests, subdivision and development, farm succession, syndication and leasehold issues. Dale is honoured to be given the opportunity to step into business management. “I am very lucky to be stepping up alongside Laura and Amanda and we are excited to make our own contribution to the McCaw Lewis story,” he said.
Amanda leads the firm’s Asset Planning practise and, having started her legal career with McCaw Lewis in 2009, she re-joined the whānau in 2017 after gaining experience in Australia. Amanda has experience advising on banking and finance in the property development and corporate areas, and has previously been part of the firm’s property and commercial teams. Amanda is a trustee of ConneXu, a significant charitable trust established to provide disability support services; and Angel Casts, a registered charity supporting parents, family and whānau through the loss of a child by creating tangible keepsakes for bereaved parents. “I am looking forward to stepping up with my talented peers and to helping shape the direction and leadership of the firm,” she said.
All three new Directors enjoy busy family lives with young tamariki, and know the value of whānau-focussed working environment which also extends to how they work with clients every day.
“We are thrilled to have these three join the Director group. As well as being talented lawyers and caring leaders, they have a passion for seeing McCaw Lewis grow in new and exciting ways as a successful Māori Commercial law firm,” says Executive Director Renika Siciliano.
Founded in 1919, McCaw Lewis has grown to become one of the Waikato’s leading law firms, specialising in commercial, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, property, dispute resolution, asset planning, environmental/natural resources, workplace law and Māori land. The appointment of three new Directors rounds out an exciting year for McCaw Lewis, with the recent appointment of Renika Siciliano as Executive Director and several senior promotions.
