Leading the way
Chantal Morkel and Pip Allan are part of a new era at long-standing Christchurch law firm Malley & Co.
Malley & Co has been part of Canterbury’s legal landscape for over 125 years. From their new office overlooking Cathedral Square, Chantal and Pip reflect on the firm’s evolution.
“We are back in the city, we have a young team, and we have two female partners,” Pip says.
Chantal became a partner in 2019. She began her legal career in South Africa at the age of 18, initially gaining experience in the banking and finance sectors, primarily in litigation matters covering those areas of the law. After immigrating to New Zealand in 2007, she expanded her expertise across various areas of law – from business and commercial matters, to trusts, asset planning and structuring, retirement village development and compliance, wills and enduring powers of attorney.
This breadth of work is what keeps her passionate.
“The variety of the work that comes across our desks is amazing. This comes down to the size of the firm. I have a nice balance, I could go from drafting a will to settling a multi-million dollar transaction all in one day.”
Originally from Timaru, Pip Allan is an experienced litigator. She joined Malley & Co in 2020 and became a litigation partner in 2021.
“For the last couple of years, I’ve been focussed on building a strong relationship property and estates practice. I’m passionate about these areas of the law and helping people through what are really difficult times in their lives.” The litigation team has gone from strength to strength in the last couple of years to encompass two partners, four lawyers, a legal executive and a legal secretary.
Since joining the partnership, Chantal and Pip have helped usher in a new era. “When I joined the partnership, we had a number of senior partners retire, and sadly, one senior partner passed away,” Chantal says.
That shift allowed space for new leadership and innovation. “We’ve had leeway from senior partners to build our teams and allow for some changes,” says Pip. “Kudos to them for allowing us to do that,” adds Chantal.
“We implemented a huge amount of systems and consistency processes, and that changed the business completely. People we hire, the first thing they comment on is the quality of our systems,” says Chantal.
Chantal is particularly passionate about mentoring young professionals and developing systems and processes. “It’s so important to have good mentorship – whoever your mentors are, they will make or break your career. You also try to make sure they’re practising in the right area of the law to suit their personality – otherwise they won’t enjoy it.”
“We see progression pretty quickly – I think it’s a combination of the mentorship, the systems, the quality of our documents, and the processes.”
Balance is important to the pair. “One thing that really struck me coming here is that we have genuine work-life balance. People are arriving at 8.30am and leaving at 5pm,” Pip says.
Another major milestone: the return to central Christchurch. Now located in the Regent Building on Cathedral Square, Malley & Co shares the four-storey building with law firms Buddle Findlay and Anderson Lloyd.
Chantal says the search for a new central home was not only practical but also personal – contributing to Christchurch’s recovery following the earthquakes.
“Malley & Co has a longstanding loyal client base, and we wanted to be back in the heart of the city.”
Even developer Philip Carter had a personal motivation. “When I met with the owner, Philip Carter, during lease negotiations, he said, ‘Chantal, I really want you in the building because I have a strong personal connection to the Malley family, who were the founders of the firm.’”