Long-serving woman lawyer standing down

Kate Walker
Kate Walker
When Kate Walker started practising, there were just a handful of women lawyers in Dunedin.

The 61-year-old is winding down after nearly 40 years as a lawyer, all but 18 months of it in Dunedin.

Ms Walker, the longest-serving woman lawyer in Otago, recently retired as a partner at Anderson Lloyd, but will continue as a part-time consultant over the next three months. For much of that time, she will be on holiday, with partner Chuck Landis, a retired geologist, in the United States.

There were only three or four other women lawyers in the city when she started work in January, 1974, at Ross Dowling Marquet Griffin, where she became a partner in 1982.

She did not face much discrimination, aside from the odd client, and fellow lawyers were courteous. Her career started just before a large influx of women lawyers, and it was those women who experienced most of the sexism.

''I think that was when this discrimination really started to bite, because I guess the males felt `well you know, there's three or four women, so isn't that nice, we've got a few women around', but as soon as the floodgates opened, and more and more women came into the profession, some of them probably felt slightly threatened.''

She was a founding member of the Otago Women Lawyers Society in 1986.

Ms Walker said estate law, while not considered particularly exciting, was one of the most rewarding parts of her career. She had helped people untangle complicated situations, at a difficult time of their lives, assistance often greatly appreciated.

Helping to sort family ''squabbles'' over estates was reasonably common, and she found the direct approach most effective.

''I've never been afraid to just get a person in, sit them down, and say `look, you need to pull your head in here'.

''You've got to get down and talk to people at a level that they're going to understand.''

She had enjoyed helping people buy property, set up family trusts and had often dealt with the same family over generations.

She will stay in Dunedin for her retirement, a city she passionately defended against those who criticised it, she said.

She planned to be active, enjoying a ''domestic life'' of gardening and cooking, while offering her skills to the community sector.

-eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz

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