A three-month stint helping to unravel Cambodia land law in the wake of the fall of the Pol Pot regime convinced Tauranga lawyer Tom Elvin that law was his right vocation.
Recently married to civil engineer and project manager Sara, Tom joined his parents' law firm Mackenzie Elvin last year, where he is a senior solicitor and happy to be in a provincial firm.
- Name
- Thomas Sebastian (Tom) Elvin
- Born
- Tauranga.
- Age
- 30.
- Entry to law
- Graduated LLB, BA (History) in 2010. Admitted in 2010.
- Workplace
- Senior solicitor at Mackenzie Elvin, Tauranga.
- Speciality area
- Commercial, construction, property, leasing and business acquisitions.
He went to Cambodia on an NGO internship with the khmer-run Cambodia Centre for Human Rights after completing his studies at Otago University six years ago – working alongside at-risk communities.
"[Law's] a vocation rather than a career."
"We were dealing with their Land Act, forced evictions and interpreting the law in the context of factual scenarios that were occurring for local communities…" Tom says.
"Their land records were relatively limited following the Pol Pot regime … A lot of the work involved land clearances and clarifying speculation that areas where there were tribal rights, or squatters rights, were to be cleared…
"At the time there were close relationships between a lot of businessmen and the government and some dubious dealings…
"Our work was mainly about being proactive for at risk communities to establish that they had a legal right over land and confirm they had a legal right to assert where the land they had rights over ended and began…
"I was there long enough to know I could probably do that for a lot longer but short enough to give me a lick without it being overly daunting…"
Returning to New Zealand, Tom worked in Auckland firms before getting a lifestyle opportunity to join the family practice.
"It was a relatively unique offer – kind of now or never – and I managed to convince my now wife – an Auckland girl - she could make a pretty good go of it down here too…
"The idea of moving away from a central city corporate law firm to a more private client-based provincial practice had a lot of appeal for me, and the ability to work alongside my parents was pretty cool…
"Tauranga has grown massively; it's not the place I left and not the retirement village it was…"
One of four siblings, Tom's younger brother is about to start work at Russell McVeagh in Auckland and his older sister works in legal policy in the UK.
Still coming to grips with the move to Tauranga and only a few weeks into his marriage, Tom is looking forward to spending a bit more time outdoors, and making the most of getting out on the water in the family's 5.5 metre Chianti power boat for some fishing and water skiing.
"I used to play rugby until I got a few injuries so I'm looking forward to getting back into refereeing this year…
"We do a bit of tramping, including Auckland's west coast, the Hump Ridge Track at Tuatapere in Southland and around the Kaimais…
"TV is devoted to cricket and footy…
"Having studied history at Otago I'm keen on historical fiction films such as Suffragette and Spotlight … and the new Star Wars, Zoolander … My favourite actors are Mark Ruffalo, Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford…
"I don't play any musical instruments and like Ed Sheeran, Mumford & Sons, the Beatles, Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Dave Dobbyn always goes well…
"I go through a whole lot of trashy adventure books and can chew up the likes of Lee Childs and Clive Cussler pretty quickly … Every summer I pick up Daron Acemoglu's Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, but haven't finished it yet…
"Problem solving attracted me to law and helping people with things they perceive as problems or difficult scenarios…
"I guess a lawyer is a kind of necessary evil in the community and we are around when people deal with significant milestones such as buying a house or making a will…
"Some of the more enjoyable work is taking people through the purchase of a property – that's a cool bonus we get to do as part of our job … It's a vocation rather than a career…
"If not a lawyer I would be a history teacher in a boys' school … there's a big teaching gene in my family … I would have liked to have done that if I had not done law and enjoyed it…
"I loved Auckland and was there a long time, but we're making the most of the outdoors that the Bay of Plenty has to offer, lakes, beaches and national parks…"
Tom's late model Audi A4 1.8 litre turbo wagon makes short work of being ten minutes from the beach and two hours from the snow.
"I'm in a profession that's full of many wild and wonderful people … It's about living a life where you take the time and the opportunities…"
Jock Anderson has been writing and commenting on New Zealand lawyers and New Zealand's courts for most of his career in journalism. Contact Jock at jockanderson123@gmail.com.