Role a 'fantastic' opportunity

Gallaway Cook Allan's new head of private clients Devon Miller. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Gallaway Cook Allan's new head of private clients Devon Miller. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Law has proven to be the ''perfect'' career for Devon Miller.

Ms Miller (47), who has been practising for 25 years, is a new partner at Dunedin law firm Gallaway Cook Allan, where she has been made head of private clients.

Brought up on a farm at Shingle Creek, in Central Otago, she always wanted to do law as she enjoyed people and being involved in their lives and issues, she said.

After studying in Dunedin, she spent five years with Checketts McKay in Central Otago, which was a ''fantastic'' start to her legal career.

''There was an opportunity to be involved in a broad range of areas of the law and, due to it being a rural environment, there was an opportunity to be involved in things that might possibly might not happen in a city environment,'' she said.

A move to Dunedin followed and she specialised in private clients, describing her role as similar to a general practitioner, in terms of what a doctor did.

It was about dealing with the likes of estates, elder law, trusts, wills and ''day to day things that affect families''.

It was ''hugely interesting'' and a nice way to develop close relationships with clients, while helping them through what were often difficult issues, but issues that also confronted most people at some point in their lives.

Being able to offer assistance to someone at that time and resolve those issues was extremely rewarding, she said.

''It was the perfect career for me. It has, over time, just become more and more fulfilling as I develop relationships with clients,'' she said.

What made it so interesting was different people with different problems and different perspectives.

Empathy was required in such a role, while experience - seeing issues recurring - also helped when it came to giving people guidance.

Ms Miller, who started work at Gallaway Cook Allan this month, saw the role as a ''fantastic opportunity'', both to develop that field of law and have the support of a large firm to implement strategies for giving clients better service.

There was also the support of the firm from a collegial point of view.

Law firm Aspinall Joel was being merged into Gallaway Cook Allan and that also had a ''pretty significant practice''.

She was looking forward to Gallaway Cook Allan moving into a vacant part of the Dalgety and Co building in Vogel St at the end of next year.

It was nice to see something not currently in use being restored to useful, inhabited and a ''real asset for the community''.

 

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