Working for a mad keen hunter/fisherman means no days off in the South Island October to April salmon fishing season for Kimberley McBride.
A former White Fox Ashburton branch solicitor, Kimberley joined South African-born White Fox partner Greg Martin when he set up his own Ashburton practice – Arrowsmith Law – this year.
[Arrowsmith Law takes its name from the 2,781m Mount Arrowsmith in the Southern Alps at the source of the Rangitata, Ashburton and Rakaia rivers. Greg Martin was profiled in April 2015]
- Name
- Kimberley Amanda (Kimberley) McBride
- Born
- Ashburton.
- Age
- 27.
- Entry to law
- Gradated LLB, BA (English) from Otago University 2012. Admitted 2015.
- Workplace
- Arrowsmith Law, Ashburton.
- Speciality area
- Commercial.
"It was exciting when I finally got a practising position at White Fox… And when Greg started his new firm he invited me to come along…" says Kimberley, who was admitted last December.
"I could probably be a librarian but I will stick with law..."
The first lawyer in her family, Kimberley can't pin down what attracted her to law.
"I kind of fell into law… Originally I was going to do forensic science – I watched a lot of CSI on TV when I was younger - but I was useless at physics…
"I was better at English than science at school and I knew I wanted to go to university and do something professional… So it seemed logical to do law…
"I don't think forensics would be an alternative career at this point… I could probably be a librarian but I will stick with law…
"It was quite intimidating when I finished my degree because I didn't actually know anything about what lawyers did… There's definitely something lacking in the degrees and they should devote time to telling what lawyers actually do…"
Kimberley took time off after graduating – "I had been in school for ages and wanted a break" – to travel extensively in South East Asia, mainly through Vietnam, Lao, Thailand and back to Vietnam.
"I travelled by myself… It appealed… It was cheap and cheerful, non-violent, safe and great…
"I went to America a few years ago and spent a month with a good friend in Los Angeles… We did a road trip up to San Francisco on the Pacific coast highway and stayed at Berkeley, which still has the hippie vibe with the next generation taking up the mantle…"
While she spent a lot of time in Nelson when younger, and her family have property at Collingwood, Kimberley saw more of the South Island while at university but she has yet to go to Wellington.
"I have a few friends there but I have never been…
"I get to the ski fields in my light blue 2006 Ford Focus with borrowed ski racks and swim for fitness most mornings at the Ashburton sports complex…
"I have lots of favourite writers… I studied Vladimir (Lolita) Nabokov at university and he is my favourite… I like historical fiction and non-fiction, including around the period of first and second world wars…
"I'm not a huge film or TV buff and while I enjoy athletics and gymnastics I am not into team sports and did not follow the Olympics…
"Ok, I watch Suits, Game of Thrones and the American science fiction horror series Stranger Things – a 1980s throwback about a psychic little girl… And I can get engrossed in TV crime dramas…
"Intelligent and funny Al Jazeera news correspondent Mehdi Hasan – who has his own show – is my first choice of dinner guest…
"I'm a big Al Jazeera fan…The New Zealand TV news of 6 or 7 minutes is not enough…
"Mr Trump would be on my list – not that I enjoy him but I would enjoy watching him talk to Mehdi… I would have a glass of red wine handy and watch the drama unfold over a meal of New Zealand lamb…
"In the future I would definitely like to go down the litigation route… There's not too many opportunities for that where I am now… But I can get a good general grounding and see what I can manage…
"I really only know what I don't want to do… No family law and no criminal…
"I definitely want to stay on the civil side of things… Family is too emotive for me… And criminal presents its own issues too…
"Meanwhile, I'm allowed to take a day or two off to go midweek skiing, which is a pretty good deal…
"It's a bit of a trade-off for when Greg goes hunting and fishing…
"In the salmon fishing season I don't get time off…"
Timaru-based 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.