IN-HOUSE Riding the in-house wave By Rachael Breckon To say Winston Cowie has used his law degree in a lateral way is an understatement.
organisation with a large range of skills, you have more ability to negotiate the job you do, Mr Cowie says.
The in-house lawyer has relocated coral, transplanted sea grass and negotiated employment contracts (all while working in Qatar).
“[The organisation] might be employing me to develop the marine science business, but I am also a lawyer so [I make them aware] I can help with the in-house lawyer role as well,” he says.
Now back at home, Mr Cowie works for engineering, architecture and environmental consulting company GHD. An avid fisherman and surfer, the Otago university law graduate began his legal career working for Russell McVeagh. “I learned a hell of a lot and respected the work Russell Mac did. Not only did they pride themselves on giving the best advice, they also did a hell of a lot for the community, legal aid work and contributing to papers and commentaries to try and improve the law,” he says. “Life in a big law firm, however, wasn’t for me. Having a conversation with a good friend at the time about what career path I wanted to take, he said: ‘Life’s your game, Winnie, no one else’s. If you’re not happy with your lot and not willing to change it, nothing will happen. It’s up to you to improve your lot. The buck stops with you.’” So, heeding this advice, Mr Cowie decided to go in a different direction and applied to Oxford University to do an MSc in environmental policy, in the department of geography. Although his tertiary background was entirely law, Mr Cowie’s proposal on coastal management in developing countries was accepted by Oxford University’s Centre for the Environment. “If you have a real interest in something, and are working in that space, you can study that, because it is your passion,” he says. As an in-house lawyer in a big
Perhaps ironically, the decision to leave New Zealand for the middle of the United Kingdom to pursue a career that would see him developing marine policy standards in the Middle East, the Caribbean and now Auckland, took him away from the recreational ocean sports that had occupied a lot of his spare time at home. Although he was “playing some pretty serious rugby” representing Oxford University on the field, which included international tours to Japan and America, there was still too much idle time for Mr Cowie, so he used this to write a novel. His novel A Flame Flickers in the Darkness has a history which spans around six years. He conceived the idea for the novel at 23 on board Tuatara, a 1946 vintage 24-foot kauri mullet boat. He then worked on it in his spare time over the next six years in a variety of countries. “It was a way to stay reasonably connected with New Zealand when I was overseas in both the UK and Qatar, especially Qatar. Qatar’s a desert.” “After a year there, we had kind of had most of the adventures we were going to have so I went about really getting serious with writing the novel in my spare time.” The journey hasn’t been simple for the ambitious in-house lawyer and, like most first novelists, he has suffered from some bumps and rejections along the road. But not to be deterred, Mr Cowie ended up self-publishing through
A passion for the ocean led Winston Cowie to seek to combine marine science with his LLB.
New Plymouth company, Publish Me. This has been reasonably successful. The historical novel based on a fictional Te Atiawa warrior and an Irish whaler is available at Whitcoulls and other independent stores. Mr Cowie is also proud to point out the excellent review it was given by New Zealand Land Wars historian Peter Maxwell. As for now, Mr Cowie has put the pen down, focusing his attention on his family which includes two “beautiful little girls” who are both under two years old. Asked the source of his motivation, Mr Cowie drew on his fortune in misfortune. He has been in five car accidents (none of which were his fault), has been electrocuted standing in a boat and although only 29 years old has already suffered through the grief of losing friends. “It all motivates you to get out there and have a good go at life. When I was in Qatar I would get up before work and write for an hour, and then at night do the same thing,” he says. Winston Cowie will be speaking to Auckland Young Lawyers on Thursday 1 November, at his old law firm Russell McVeagh on Making a role for yourself in the law. LT
LAWTALK 805 / 12 OCTOBER 2012
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