The Govett Quilliam partner sees law as "the ultimate set of rules"
For Govett Quilliam partner Lauren Wallace, the law is the framework that shapes society and governs interactions. This perspective is what drew her to the law, even from a young age.
In the first part of this interview, the 2024 Elite Woman tells NZ Lawyer about the documentaries that introduced her to environmental law, and the privilege of bearing witness to memorable human experiences.
Why law? Because you can’t play the game without knowing the rules, and the law is the ultimate set of rules — the framework that shapes our society and governs our interactions.
While that concept has always interested me, I apparently first announced I wanted to be a lawyer at a very young (and clearly impressionable) age after I watched two documentaries that put environmental law on my radar. One told the story of New York’s Hudson River, a once heavily polluted waterway where local communities fought long and hard to hold polluters accountable — work that ultimately contributed to the passing of the Clean Water Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act and extensive remediation work to clean up the river. The other was about the commercial seal trade and the efforts of animal rights groups to ban the brutal practice of clubbing baby seals to death for their fur.
What still holds true about those stories is that the law is not static, it’s a dynamic tool, shaped by and for the people and places it serves. It can be used to both enable people and to hold people to account. That’s what drew me in, and what still drives me today: helping people understand and use the law to create better outcomes.
First and foremost, the people I get to work with.
The privilege of helping clients work through complex issues, guiding ideas and projects forward, being in business with exceptional lawyers, and mentoring the next generation of legal minds has been an incredibly rewarding journey.
I also love that no two days are the same and that I’m constantly learning and problem-solving. Our profession is multifaceted and ever evolving, offering endless opportunities to grow and make a meaningful impact.
There have been a lot of memorable moments, from my first job interview, my first Court of Appeal appearance, the support I received from my firm when I transitioned into being a working mum, to becoming a partner of Govett Quilliam, and some of the fantastic places this job has taken me too across the motu.
What stands out though are the stories of the people I’ve encountered along the way. As lawyers, we bear witness to some of the most vulnerable, heartbreaking, stubborn and courageous moments in people’s lives and it is those experiences, those human connections, which are most memorable for me.
