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Inspiring lawyer and leader named CLANZ-Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year
A lawyer described as an inspiration to all corporate
counsel is the winner of the 2009 CLANZ-Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer of the
Year Award.
Sarah Carstens, Corporate Counsel with ANZ National Financial Group in Auckland, received the award from Bell Gully partner Dean Oppenhuis on Friday evening.
The award, which includes a trophy and $5000 prize for professional development, was presented at the annual Corporate Lawyers Association of New Zealand (CLANZ) conference, held in Christchurch this year.
The CLANZ-Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer Award recognises an in-house lawyer in the early years of his or her career who has made an outstanding contribution in his or her role and demonstrated potential as a leading member of the in-house legal profession in New Zealand.
The judging panel of Dean Oppenhuis, CLANZ patron Sir Ian Barker, QC and CLANZ president and former award winner Rebecca Holbrook, had several strong nominations to consider.
Sarah quickly emerged as a clear winner, says Dean.
Sarah's nomination for the award describes a lawyer with some "truly impressive technical legal skills" as well as a full range of non-legal skills required of in-house counsel.
She manages a demanding portfolio of responsibilities at ANZ National and her appetite for "challenging work and her productivity, are, at times, quite frightening".
Calm under pressure, she is a "born problem-solver", a "great collaborator" and a "straight talker". She manages to juggle her busy role with other activities including being a proficient sportswoman and newly appointed president of the Auckland Women's Law Association.
"Sarah is an inspiration to young – and old – corporate counsel everywhere," says her nomination.
Also at the awards dinner, Vanessa Oakley of Telecom was named the CLANZ-LexisNexis Corporate Lawyer of the Year and Cameron Madgwick of Contact Energy was awarded the CLANZ-Wigley & Co Community Contribution Award for his voluntary work with the Wellington Community Law Centre and Laura Fergusson Trust over the last decade.
