The Juno Legal lawyer increasingly got involved in legal-related work later on
As a child, Christine Lanham got weekly lessons of sorts in the law whenever her grandfather would tell stories about his judicial career while babysitting her.
“He was a retired judge, and his stories gave me a glimpse into how the law can help people, and how it evolves with society’s needs and values”, she told NZ Lawyer. “Being part of that process now is my favourite part of the job”.
Lanham obtained her LLB and BSc from the Victoria University of Wellington. She began working “in areas that interested me”, and eventually found herself doing more and more legal-related work. Not long after she commenced with auctions and classifieds company Trade Me as a regulatory manager, she went on to launch its legal and regulatory team.
She led the team as general counsel – a role she held for eight years. She assisted Trade Me with its IPO and a number of acquisitions, oversaw litigation, and guided the company through ICT, consumer and commercial issues.
“I really enjoyed working with teams right across the business on fascinating issues and seeing projects through”, she told NZ Lawyer.
Over a legal career that has spanned two decades, Lanham has gleaned experience handling legal matters involving commercial, contract, consumer, privacy, tech, IP, resource management, Treaty settlements and network infrastructure. She has been involved in legislative drafting and guided clients with major water assets.
In addition to her stint as a pioneer at Trade Me, she has also been a solicitor at Checketts McKay Law, a legal adviser at WellSouth, a Parliamentary Services researcher, and an environmental manager at Telecom New Zealand, where she kickstarted the establishment of nationally consistent environmental rules for telecommunications infrastructure.
Just before joining Juno Legal as a lawyer, Lanham was a senior solicitor at the Ministry for the Environment. She has a particular interest in sustainability and technology.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with talented people bringing their skills, energy and values to make things better. I enjoy that kind of collaboration”, she told NZ Lawyer.
Asked why she decided to shift to a role with Juno Legal, Lanham cited work-life balance as one factor.
“It enables me to do varied and interesting work and leaves time for other things that are important to me, like family and making the most of living in Central Otago”, she told NZ Lawyer.
Lanham will work from Central Otago. She is supporting Hatch Invest NZ and MCERT.
