She might have also been working in government
Anthony Harper special counsel Lucy Robinson spent a chunk of her career learning to be open to learning from others. She took this desire to learn further when she wound up helping to start a networking group for women in property in Christchurch.
In the final part of this August interview, Robinson talks about being able to interact with people she encounters in her day-to-day job, her excitement over the regeneration happening in Christchurch, and what she might have become if she wasn’t a lawyer.
What would you say is your personal biggest achievement over the past 12 months?
We've had some great events for a women and property collective group down here in Christchurch, a woman's property networking group that I've been a founding committee member of. We had a great ESG breakfast panel recently, and we did a tour of the new stadium. It’s always easy to think, “oh, I should look into doing that or start a group of people that I basically want to hang out with and also go do all the cool stuff in town that I'd like to do”, so I'm proud that I've actually done something about that.
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I've got a great team of other non-lawyers in the committee who have helped bring that to life. It's only our first year this year, so looking forward to next year and having some exciting tours, projects and talks, which will be good.
What led you to form that group, and why did it feel important to start it?
I just wanted opportunities to network with some of the really amazing property industry professionals that I was meeting in my day-to-day job. You don't often get a chance to just sit down with them and say, “Hey, tell me how you got to where you are, or tell me about what you do”, to developers, investors surveyors, architects.
I often was meeting people as their lawyer or in a meeting where you don't have enough time to really get to know that person. So it was a chance for myself and others to create a space where we could network. It felt like a way that we could target a specific group of people and make a space for that group of people to join. We've had men come to lots of events, and it's been great. So it's not solely women only.
What are you looking forward to in 2025?
As a property lawyer in Christchurch, I'm looking forward to some of the big, really exciting projects happening in the city, like the redevelopment of Noah’s Hotel, which people from Christchurch will know of. We've got the new stadium – it won't be [completed] next year, but it will be not too long after – and we've got the new sports and recreation centre. As a Christchurch resident and not a lawyer, it's exciting seeing all these new projects become available, and we can use them, which will be really good.
Another thing I thought of was still seeing different areas in Christchurch regenerate. The commercial profile and the landlord and tenant profiles of different areas are changing quite rapidly as Christchurch becomes a really sought-after location for lots of businesses. So it's an exciting time, I think, for property lawyers in Christchurch and for people living in Christchurch to see that change.
You mentioned that you didn't really start off right away wanting to be a lawyer. Where do you think you would be right now if you didn’t do law?
I really enjoyed my political science degree, and I thought I would go into policy or foreign affairs or something like that. So I could be in Wellington doing maybe some sort of government-type role.
I also fancied myself as a journalist, and I was looking at doing a postgrad journalism course as well. So I would imagine I'd be signing off on the six o'clock news; at that age, it’s probably what every aspiring journalist is thinking their career would end up.