When I started out as a clerk at LIC in 2005 helping farmers navigate the paperwork of a new corporate model, I couldn't have known it was the first page of a 20-year story that would take me from small-town family matters to global cross-border transactions, and eventually to building something entirely my own.

My first proper legal role was in the commercial team at Harkness Henry, where I worked alongside partners and senior associates advising syndicate clients acquiring office and commercial assets in the years before the GFC. When the market changed, so did my focus, shifting to families, small businesses, and the everyday legal needs of people simply getting on with their lives. It was here, in the quieter work, that I found something lasting: a genuine appreciation for the difference good legal advice makes at a human level.

That breadth of experience only deepened from there. A secondment as in-house counsel at a hospital, overseeing the legal side of clinical trials, added a layer few commercial lawyers can claim. Three years at James & Wells sharpened my expertise in intellectual property and opened my eyes to what New Zealand businesses could achieve on the world stage. Cross-border transactions – supporting Kiwi exporters, inbound investors, and everything in between – became a natural extension of that global mindset.

When I founded iCLAW, the vision was clear: bring that international perspective home, but do it differently. I didn't just want to apply the law, I wanted my team to understand clients well enough to help them move forward safely and ambitiously. As I've always believed: "A ship was not built to sit in port, and a lawyer's job is not to stop the ship from departure, but to prepare it for the high seas."

iCLAW was built on that philosophy – technologically advanced, client-focused, and always a step ahead of how legal advice was being delivered and absorbed. I understood that society had changed, and that the practice of law had to change with it.

Now, 12 months into the next chapter with OCLaw, I've taken that thinking further. A smaller, more nimble team. More time with clients. More hands-on involvement. And a clear-eyed view of what the next five years mean for the legal profession – a period I believe will determine which lawyers remain genuinely relevant and which become mere commodity providers.

My answer? Double down on the human element. Use technology to unlock capacity and speed, yes. But protect and invest in the kind of advice that cannot be automated: the kind that comes from sitting with a client, understanding their world, and helping them navigate it wisely.

After 20 years (and with most of my hair intact, I'm pleased to report) I'm clear-eyed about what lies ahead. The legal landscape is shifting faster than ever. AI is changing how work gets done, sometimes at the expense of compliance and sound practice. The lawyers who will matter are those who can hold both worlds together: the efficiency of modern tools and the irreplaceable value of experienced, considered advice.