4.00 AM

My alarm typically goes off between 4 – 4.30 am depending on what exercise I have planned for that morning. 

4.30 AM

Coffee + Breakfast while I get ready.

5.00 AM

I am out the door either on my bike or running. Outside of work I find myself signing up for various running events and triathlons, so I reserve the early mornings to train for these. I am writing this day in the life on a Wednesday which is my Bike + Swim morning.

7.00 AM

I am back from my bike ride. It's now time to pack my bag for work and head to the pool for a 45-minute swim. 

8.00 AM

I have now finished my exercise for the morning, and I will get ready for work at the pool which is conveniently a 5-minute walk away from the office!

8.30 AM

When I first arrive at the office I sit down and check what emails have come through overnight and write my to do list for the day. I work in our Healthcare team and my work predominantly involves assisting doctors with matters under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, the Privacy Act 2020, the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 and the Coroners Act 2006. 

9.00 AM

Around 9 am messages are often going off in our junior’s team chat to see if anyone wants to grab a coffee. Our office is conveniently located in the heart of Auckland’s CBD and the juniors often head out for a morning coffee run at one of the nearby cafes. 

9.15 AM

I am now back at my desk and assisting a doctor with their response to a complaint that has been submitted to the Medical Council of New Zealand. The Healthcare team’s work is particularly client facing and as a junior lawyer I get the opportunity to speak directly with and assist doctors through processes such as a Medical Council complaint. This work is incredibly varied and interesting, no matter is exactly the same and you get to learn a lot about the medical profession. 

11.15 AM 

A new instruction has come through from a client asking for an opinion. We frequently provide opinions on various topics that impact Healthcare professionals. I enjoy writing opinions as the topics tend to be very interesting and it's an opportunity to research a typically niche area of law. 

1.30 PM

It's now lunchtime and I have made my way into our kitchen area where a few others from the firm are having their lunch too! We catch up on the different work we are doing at the moment and how our days have been so far. Every now and again some of the other graduates and I head over to mecca for a quick browse before getting back to work…

2.30 PM

I have a meeting scheduled at 3 pm to go over an upcoming inquest and the work that needs to be completed in advance. To prepare for the meeting I have a look over the documents we are going to be discussing and the most recent correspondence.   

4.00 PM

The meeting has ended, and I am now working on a document review for a recent cyber-attack on GP practice. Outside of my work in the Healthcare team I also assist our Cyber, Privacy and Data team. We are currently working through the documents that were exfiltrated in the attack and identifying the information contained within them to inform our advice. Document reviews can take weeks and sometimes months, but they are a crucial part of assisting clients when they have suffered a cyber-attack. There are three other graduate solicitors assisting with this review and we work together to get through as many documents as we can each day. 

5.30 PM

At the end of the day, I touch base with my Kaitiaki about what work I have on at the moment and any matters we are working on together that we haven’t discussed during the day. I then look over my to do list from the day and see what I have managed to tick off and what needs to be looked at tomorrow. 

6.00 PM

It's time to post my time for the day and head home.

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