“Our young lawyers are involved in stimulating, high profile projects that require bespoke legal solutions and advice. Our specialist practice allows us to provide our lawyers with a quality of experience and a level of remuneration which is unsurpassed in the market.”
About the firm
Mayne Wetherell is a premier specialist corporate, finance and tax legal practice in New Zealand. We regularly act on ground breaking transactions where creativity, collaboration and an in-depth commercial understanding of our client’s business is required.
Our clients are deal makers who want practical, commercially minded solutions to their problems. They seek us out for our commercial approach to the delivery of complex legal advice and our commitment to quality of service. Our focus on delivering practical solutions ensures that our young lawyers develop business acumen and problem-solving skills to complement their legal expertise.
It is the combination of legal expertise with astute business judgement that distinguishes our alumni on the world stage. In the competitive international job market, Mayne Wetherell alumni continue to secure jobs in top international law firms, companies and banks – a testament to our reputation as a market leader in corporate and finance law.
Working at the firm
Operating as a single team, Mayne Wetherell’s solicitors have exposure to all areas of law which underpin business transactions. Our focus is our clients’ most sophisticated and complex transactional work. This means that our young lawyers are involved in stimulating, high profile projects that require bespoke legal solutions and advice. Our specialist practice allows us to provide our lawyers with a quality of experience and a level of remuneration which is unsurpassed in the market.
Our clients include New Zealand, Australian and multinational corporations, investment banks and private equity funds, including 2degrees, ANZ, ASB, Auckland International Airport, Bank of New Zealand, Deutsche Bank, Fonterra, Goldman Sachs, KKR, Macquarie, Pacific Equity Partners, Quadrant Private Equity, Transpower, UBS and Westpac.
We invest significant time and effort into training and developing our lawyers to ensure that they have the breadth of knowledge and experience necessary to surpass our clients’ expectations. For our solicitors, this is the key to driving individual growth and professional development. Time and again, the opportunities provided to our solicitors and associates result in them progressing at a faster rate than their peers at other firms.
Meet Tali Luamanuvae
2022/23 Graduate, Mayne Wetherell
“The working environment is great and the people, at all levels, truly make time and invest in you and your learning which is invaluable.”
What team/s did you clerk in this summer?
Mayne Wetherell does not have separate teams. As such, I was able to work on a variety of deals across different practice areas from M&A to intellectual property, among others. The benefit of operating as a single team is that you are continually exposed to different facets of the law and get to see transactions through to completion which is a rewarding feeling.
What were the social opportunities like at Mayne Wetherell?
Mayne Wetherell offers many social opportunities for the team to connect outside of a work context from welcome functions to casual Friday drinks and regular coffee catchups. I’m looking forward to my admission celebration, a special occasion hosted by the firm to celebrate our achievement as newly admitted lawyers alongside our family.
What makes Mayne Wetherell unique?
Mayne Wetherell stands out from other firms as we are not siloed into separate teams. This fosters a strong sense of community within the firm and creates a more collaborative working environment, where everyone feels equally comfortable seeking guidance from partners or junior lawyers. The generous starting remuneration for graduates also sets Mayne Wetherell apart from other firms, making it an employer of choice for law students.
What has surprised you about working at Mayne Wetherell?
I have been surprised by the level of responsibility you can take on as a graduate. I didn’t expect to be as heavily involved in the firm’s transactions from day one which has made me feel like a valued member of the team. Through quality training, real life work opportunities and guidance from senior lawyers, Mayne Wetherell is able to put a lot of trust in its juniors from the get-go which fosters a great environment for professional growth.
What has been your favourite experience of working at Mayne Wetherell?
My favourite experience so far of working at Mayne Wetherell has been the diverse range of transactions I’ve been involved in as I expected the work to be more limited at a ‘specialist’ firm.
No two days are the same which provides the opportunity to continually expand my expertise. The scope of collaboration, with juniors working directly with partners, has also been a highlight as it has given me great insight into the different styles of practice and approaches that can be taken to solve our clients’ legal issues.
What would you want a prospective graduate to know about Mayne Wetherell?
If you want to accelerate your professional and personal development, immerse yourself in a variety of high-profile transactions and work in a firm that is people-focused and non-hierarchal, then Mayne Wetherell is the perfect place to kickstart your legal career.