Our new Practice Manager, legal project management specialist Cindy Laberge, was pretty much sold on joining Aspiring Law – before she’d as much as spoken to anyone in our team.
And, Aspiring Law Director Janice Hughes says, after searching for the right person to fill the vital new leadership position, she couldn’t believe Cindy was not only such a great fit, but actually exceeded what was a rather novel recruitment brief.
“We’re experiencing significant growth, we’re growing as a team, our caseload has risen dramatically, and we’re also in the throes of developing some exciting and pioneering initiatives.
“This was such a key role, and sits at the hub of what we feel is going to be a dynamic, innovative springboard to the future. We had to find someone really special who had just the right skill set, creativity and passion,” Janice says.
“Cindy’s joined us at an incredibly pivotal time. She brings with her significant qualifications, skills and real-world experience that are quite unique in New Zealand, and tailor-made to what we need as we both grow and break new ground in how we deliver legal services and give back to our community.
“From the outset, we loved the fact that Cindy shares our values. She has an absolute, and sincere, commitment to, and specialist knowledge in, delivering superior client care, as well as fostering collaboration and strengthening community relations.”
Cindy qualified as a lawyer in the United States, and practised for more than a decade in California, largely in the San Francisco area. Specialising in family law initially, she served as President of the Desert Bar Family Law Association, before moving into business litigation, where she worked extensively in the trademark/domain name field.
After marrying a Kiwi, she split her time between the United States and New Zealand, and pondered a change in career focus.
“I’d always been drawn to project management, leadership and the people factor, and I decided that’s where I wanted to put my energies,” Cindy says.
She qualified as a Certified Legal Project Manager under a pioneering American enterprise that literally started the Legal Project Management movement. From there, Cindy melded her hands-on experience practising law with her leadership and management insight, and has since advised law firms in both countries. She has also worked in academia. As the third Cyberlaw Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington’s Law Faculty, she taught, conducted research, delivered public presentations on privacy, and also penned a treatise.
On learning of the new Practice Manager’s role at Aspiring Law, Cindy searched the firm online … and it didn’t take long before she was convinced she’d found her new professional home.
“For any successful business, the bottom-line focus has to be important – but what came through so clearly and consistently reading about Aspiring Law is that it isn’t the overarching spirit.
“I could see how community-oriented the team is, and how committed they are to genuinely adding value for clients. They are also really generous with sharing their knowledge and providing legal education.
“In a nutshell, what drew me to Aspiring Law? The value they place on people.”