HOW WE PRACTISE
S u mm e r 2 0 2 0 · L AW TA L K 9 4 4
HOW WE PRACTISE
Māori values are the heart of our culture “To oohonga ake i taku moemoeā, ko te puāwaitanga o te whakairo.” Dreams become reality when we take action. — Te Puea Herangi
A sentiment which Renika Siciliano, the newly appointed Executive Director of McCaw Lewis lawyers, believes in wholeheartedly. Renika considers it a privilege to lead an organisation with over 100 years of history and as the firms first wahine Māori Director and now Executive Director she is excited to build on and add to the accomplishments of the firm and their vision as a Māori commercial firm. In 2019 McCaw Lewis celebrated its centenary. Over the last 100 years the Hamilton based firm has changed significantly, evolving to reflect more modern values and practises. It’s also had a growing focus on incorporating Māori values into its core practise, encouraging and enabling its 45-strong team of people to not only understand the culture of so many of their clients but to respect and value those cultural beliefs. “At the heart of the change in our practise has been our values. These are values/concepts that have strong roots in te ao Māori, but at their heart, we believe they’re common values that apply to all people – certainly to our whānau anyway. They’re about guiding us in how we want to engage with each other, and as lawyers with our clients,” explains Renika. Working with a te ao Māori perspective is not a new practice for this firm. Since the very early Treaty settlements and Māori land matters, McCaw Lewis has represented Māori on a number of these fronts, primarily through their Māori Legal Team (now with 11 lawyers). In 2016 the Directors made a conscious decision to cement their identity as a Māori commercial law firm. They retained all core services including property law, commercial, dispute resolution, employment law and asset planning to complement this new identity. This vision was successfully driven by former Managing Director, Aidan Warren. As new Executive Director Renika Siciliano explains, this has been about the evolution of how they deliver to clients across the whole firm, not just in one dedicated area. “This means that no matter what assistance you are seeking, we will treat you as our whānau.” It’s been a significant journey for many of the staff at McCaw Lewis. As Renika explains, the majority of staff are non-Māori so there were a lot of people who 28
▴ Renika Siciliano
This means that no matter what assistance you are seeking, we will treat you as our whānau
weren’t immediately familiar with the concepts, pronunciations and protocols embedded in Māori culture and language. “Our clients have never said to us that they need “Māori lawyers” for “Māori issues”. And we love that. For us, it’s about having the people with the right skills, knowledge and understanding working in their areas of expertise.” “We work with a lot of Māori clients, across different teams at different levels. We have a Māori Legal Team dealing primarily with our iwi, hapū and whānau clients but it’s important that – regardless of the work area – everyone across our firm understands and feels comfortable working alongside Māori clients. “When we made a conscious decision to put more resources into this space in a really deliberate way, there was a lot of discussion
