It is through this lens that the firm has fostered a talented, passionate and driven group of female leaders.
McCaw Lewis’ whānau-first approach has enabled all staff to seek and establish a healthy balance between mahi and family. This has been especially important for Amanda Hockley and Laura Monahan, both of whom have young tamariki.
Being able to put family first has not put the stoppers on a career they both love; in late 2020 the pair of hardworking lawyers stepped up into directorship.
Founded in 1919, McCaw Lewis has grown to become one of Waikato’s leading law firms, with a team of about 40 staff specialising in commercial, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, property, dispute resolution, asset planning, environmental/natural resources, workplace law and Māori land.
Amanda Hockley
As a parent of two young sons, and leader of the firm’s asset planning practise, Amanda Hockley says the flexible working arrangements at McCaw Lewis provide the best possible work/life harmony for her.
“At McCaw Lewis we changed our terminology on this concept a bit,” she says.
“We realised that a lot of us were striving for a work/life balance however we were rarely able to get that balance perfect. Sometimes the pendulum swings towards whānau more and others work requires a bit more attention. The term ‘harmony’ is used in recognition of the swinging pendulum.
“I feel so lucky to have flexibility – just yesterday morning I was at my sons’ school triathlon and didn’t get into the office until the afternoon. Nobody blinks an eyelid about that – even clients are supportive.”
While COVID has changed the course of how many people work, Amanda says the high trust model has always been part of the McCaw Lewis culture.
“We operate in a really high trust environment. We’re dealing with people’s money, their families and matters that require absolute confidence.”
This model of trust flows into Amanda’s practice; dealing with the intricacies of asset ownership structures and helping grieving families work through the estate administration process for their loved ones.
“It’s also the kind of work that is well suited to females,” she says.
“As women we often have a strong empathetic side which is so important with this work type. We deal with family dynamics as well as the black letter of the law. It requires good judgement, an ability to think laterally and a strong understanding of relationships.”
A legal career wasn’t necessarily on the cards for Amanda. Overseas travel beckoned when she left high school but her father took her along to a University of Waikato open day, she spoke to the law department, liked what she saw and heard, and the rest is history.
She managed an overseas stint during her time at law school going on a university exchange to Copenhagen, Denmark for six-months.
“I guess I was able to have it all in that instance,” she laughs.
Starting out with McCaw Lewis when she graduated, Amanda was with the firm for around two and a half years before overseas travel beckoned once more. This time to Perth, where she worked for a national firm working in banking and finance.
“The deals and the dollars were big so it was exciting work, but it was very transactional and missing that client intimate approach that McCaw Lewis holds so dear.”
After five and a half years in Perth, the birth of Amanda’s second son prompted a return to home soils and back to the McCaw Lewis fold in 2017. At the time it was a no-brainer for Amanda to return to a firm she knew was providing a work culture conducive to family life.
“I was attracted back to McCaw Lewis when I came back from Perth, because that whānau first culture was so strong and I knew that it would be a great place to work having two young sons.”
And those values are something the McCaw Lewis whānau don’t take lightly.
“We’ve really worked hard to embed our values. They are all important but manaakitanga has been so integral in particular in the last couple of years because it has been so difficult for people mentally,” she says.
It’s something the firm takes very seriously when they are recruiting new staff as well.
Amanda is a trustee of ConneXu, a significant charitable trust established to provide disability support services; Angel Casts, a registered charity supporting parents, family and whānau through the loss of a child; and Age Concern Waikato, an organisation dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for older people. She is also a member of the Auckland District Law Society trust law committee.
Laura Monahan
The leader of McCaw Lewis’ commercial practise, Laura Monahan takes great pride in building relationships and getting to know the businesses she represents.
While Laura has an established career in general corporate and commercial matters including advising on corporate structures (with a special interest in limited partnerships), drafting commercial contracts, and advising on sales and purchases of shares and business assets, she has been working in recent years to develop a specialist knowledge in Māori commercial matters.
Working in this realm has helped Laura gain a greater appreciation and respect for clients who may operate differently than other corporate clients.
“My background is general corporate/commercial work. Māori commercial at its core is the same work but with exciting personalities and additional considerations. You’re not just dealing with a General Counsel or a CEO; you are potentially dealing with trustees who have to wear multiple hats, and they’ve got a thousand other things to do during their day.”
Laura says McCaw Lewis take their obligations in working with iwi clients seriously, providing te reo and tikanga support. And whilst it’s challenging doing the juggle – being a mum, working fulltime and acquiring knowledge of te ao Māori – it’s something she truly enjoys and appreciates.
“As a Pākehā woman starting to walk in te ao Māori, it’s meant a bit of upskilling on my part. I took te reo Māori at school and really enjoyed it but I didn’t feel 100% supported in it. McCaw Lewis and the team have just been so good about their support in terms of helping me get to grips with some relatively unfamiliar concepts – one of our key values is manaakitanga and that really rings true for me.”
This year all of the firm’s the directors, including Laura and Amanda, have signed up for a year-long Te Wānanga o Aotearoa course called He Papa Tikanga to learn about traditions, concepts, values and protocols and how some of these concepts can be applied at McCaw Lewis.
“It’s been just a really exciting opportunity for me, not one I think I would have got in many other firms. So that’s something that I think just really makes us stand apart,” she says.
The importance of building relationships and walking alongside her clients is not something new to Laura; an inhouse legal role at a healthcare company raising finance and building luxury hospitals around the United Kingdom helped shape the lawyer she is today.
“It was interesting working inhouse, being behind the business rather than kind of slightly separate from it. And it’s something I’ve tried to carry through – I’m part of a team rather than someone simply instructing clients as their lawyer, sitting in another building and not really knowing much about the business. It’s something I try to bring to my practice now. There’s that feeling of really being in the business with them.”
Like many young people trying to figure out what they will do with their lives, Laura didn’t necessarily know that law was going to be her thing.
“I’d always done academically well at school; I liked words and I liked writing and languages. And to be perfectly honest, I kind of fell a little bit into law because of that, and – luckily – quite enjoyed it.”
Being academic is one thing but, Laura says, a good work ethic will take you even further.
“My parents owned a local panel beating business (Rod Wood Collision Repair Centre) and my sisters and I grew up with the mentality that things wouldn’t be handed to you – you had to go out there and make things happen for yourself, like they did when starting their business. They also instilled in me a real passion and respect for entrepreneurism.”
Laura spent four years working for a large corporate firm in Auckland when she graduated and it made her realise that having work/life harmony is an important part of being good at your job.
“While it was a wonderful experience, given the hours of work involved to ‘get ahead’ I could never marry up the idea of how I would have a family and spend time with them while still having a fulfilling career.”
Like Amanda, Laura values the flexibility working at McCaw Lewis affords her as a working mum to two young daughters.
“It is wonderful to work in a place that is fully supportive of having a life, whether it’s family or anything outside of work.”
Laura is a trustee on the Waikato Family Centre Trust, a trustee on the Angel Casts Charitable Trust and she is on the Waikato Diocesan Old Girls Association committee.
