Five minutes with Danielle Bailey

Queenstown-based Anderson Lloyd solicitor Danielle Bailey has an excellent proposition: the four day working week.

What made you decide to become a lawyer?  
I fell into it if anything, but credit should go to my Dad and Boston Legal equally.  

What’s the strangest case you’ve ever worked on/been involved with?  
To date I've dodged the bullet on strange cases.  I am sure our litigation team could enlighten you though!

If you could invite three people for dinner, dead or alive and excluding family and friends, who would they be and why?  
George R. R. Martin (on the condition he brings me a copy of "The Winds of Winter"), Karl Pilkington (because I know he wouldn't enjoy it) and Percy Harrison Fawcett (because I just read about his life and want to know if he ever did find the Lost City of Z).

Where’s the best place to go for a drink and/or dinner after work in Queenstown?  
The Bunker if you want to impress.  1876 if you want to start a big night well.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given (work or personal)?  
Old ways won't open new doors.

Do you have any hobbies/interests outside of work?  
Snowboarding in winter, visiting the family bach in the Coromandel in summer and enjoying Central Otago wines all year round.

Complete this sentence: If I wasn’t a lawyer, I would be…
travelling the world.

What do you think will be single biggest issue facing the legal space in New Zealand in 2015?  
It is too difficult to pinpoint the "single biggest issue", but the second tranche of the Anti-Money Laundering legislation which will extend anti-money laundering requirements to lawyers will be significant.  Education will be key.

If you had John Key’s job for one day, what would you do?  
Hide from the media. 

What do you love about your job?  
The people I work with and being part of a respected and recognised profession.

What would you change about your job right now if you could?  
I would change the five day working week to a four day working week.  Three days to sleep in and enjoy would be worth the longer hours!