DLA Piper partner: 'Be true to who you are and be proud of who you are'

Pavanie Edirisuriya wanted to be a pastry chef, but a talent for arguing landed her in law instead. Since then, she has come to be an eager advocate of getting more young people into the profession – especially those from underrepresented groups.

The newly promoted partner considers being part of DLA Piper’s Head Start programme as a mentor to be “one of the most rewarding things” she has done in her legal career, and urges the profession to welcome people from diverse backgrounds into law, particularly corporate law firms.

In this interview, Edirisuriya talks the diversity and inclusion initiatives she plays an active role in, succeeding on her terms as a working mother with young children, and what’s happening in renewables.

What made you choose a career in law, and what's your favourite part of the job?

I actually had my heart set on being a pastry chef when I was younger but then I was told I was pretty good at arguing. That lead me down a path of debating at school and the rest you could say was history. I didn’t set out to be a corporate lawyer, but I started as a law clerk in the corporate team at DLA Piper and really enjoyed my time with them. And here I am today!

My favourite part of the job is teaching and developing young lawyers and seeing them flourish. To know that you may have had a small part in a person's success is hugely satisfying. For an organisation, retention of talent is hugely important, so I see the role senior lawyers play in developing junior members as a very important part of the job.

What is going on at the organisation? Are there any new programs and initiatives that you’re particularly interested in?

One of the things that I love about DLA Piper is its range of diversity and inclusion initiatives. I am heavily involved in the firm's Leadership Alliance for Women (LAW) and the firm's Mosaic initiative. LAW is a group that works to support gender balance at all levels by strengthening the influence, leadership and voice of women to effect change. Mosaic is our racial and ethnic diversity initiative. It's a programme aimed at promoting race fluency and creating opportunities and environments for our people to be confident about race and ethnicity.

Being a proud Sri Lankan Kiwi, a female and a mother, being true to who you are and being proud of who you are is something that I value immensely. It has been great to see how far we have come as a profession in valuing and recognising the importance of diversity and inclusion, but there is a lot more work still to do in this space.

What tech-related initiatives adopted by the organisation, if any, are you most excited about?

At DLA Piper we have access to a myriad of new tools and services, with a significant focus on technology. Whilst not tech per se, a service that I'm particularly excited about is our integrated M&A offering as part of our business advisory service arm. The integrated M&A offering has been developed to improve outcomes and solutions over the entire M&A lifecycle - pre-deal M&A strategy and ecosystem review to post-deal integration and deal review. Working alongside experts outside of law allows us to provide integrated strategic advice to our clients.

What has been your proudest accomplishment in the last year or so? Or what’s the biggest lesson you learned in the past year and what advice can you give fellow lawyers about it?

I returned to work two years ago after taking a year off on parental leave following the birth of my second child. It was really important to me to achieve a happy balance as a working mother with young children and a corporate lawyer, and to succeed on my terms. I feel very lucky to be at a firm, and to have been surrounded by people, that have provided me with the tools and support to achieve this.

I'm really proud of my recent appointment to partner at DLA Piper, and for being able to demonstrate to young lawyers from diverse backgrounds that "success" on your terms is possible.

What should the profession focus more on?

I think there is a lot we can do as a profession to encourage people from diverse backgrounds to consider a career in law, and to support them to succeed as lawyers, in particular, in corporate law firms. Underrepresented groups don't look to a career in law for a number of reasons, one being the lack of networks and exposure to law firms and legal professionals.

At DLA Piper, we have the Head Start social mobility programme which was launched in partnership with The Prince’s Trust in 2020. It’s a global DLA Piper initiative which was formed to improve social mobility and break down barriers faced by underrepresented groups when entering the legal profession. The programme provides support and guidance to secondary school students through to university, helping them to gain experience and build relationships to realise their full potential. I have been a mentor in the Head Start programme for the last couple of years and it has to be one of the most rewarding things I have done in my career.

What are the challenges you expect in your practice, and in the business of law in general, going forward? What challenges are particularly pressing in the country’s legal industry?

A large amount of my work currently is in the renewables sector, which is a constantly changing and developing landscape. The regulatory frameworks in this space are being recalibrated on a number of fronts. This evolving space is presenting a lot of challenges for lawyers working in this sector as well as for the regulators.

What are you looking forward to the most in the coming year?

There is a lot happening currently in the renewables and forestry sectors that I work in. With New Zealand's target of 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050 there will be a lot of activity and changes, creating opportunities for the legal sector. I am very excited to be working on projects that help New Zealand in achieving these targets.