Tairāwhiti lawyer Riki Donnelly is the recently appointed Crown Solicitor in Gisborne — the first locally based crown solicitor in almost twenty years.
Crown Solicitors are private legal practitioners appointed on the recommendation of the Attorney-General and by warrant of the Governor General. Since 2005, the Crown Solicitor in Napier has held the Gisborne warrant.
Riki partnered with senior legal practitioner Leighvi Maynard to establish a new law firm in Gisborne, Rawhiti Legal, to support his application for the local warrant.
While setting up the firm, Riki contacted the Trust’s business growth team to get expert support through the RBP.
Although he had been a director at the Invercargill Crown Solicitor’s office for eight years prior, starting a business was a new experience.
“Through the Trust, we connected with a local business consultant, Ian Parker, and he was great — exactly what we needed,” Riki said.
“Ian gave us a great starting point to work from. He developed a business and financial plan template and guided us through it.
“There were quite a few aspects Ian brought up that we hadn’t previously considered but were important to include in the overall business plan.”
One of the key learnings for Riki was understanding your audience, and ensuring to cover all the details they would want to see.
He says he would highly recommend RBP service to other businesses starting out.
“Ian gave us useful guidance, but he doesn’t do it all for you. We still had to go off and do the work, but he helped us bring it all together and gave us great advice.”
Trust Tairāwhiti is the local delivery agency for the Regional Business Partner Network. The RBP management capability fund helps businesses access development opportunities across a wide range of areas including finance, leadership, marketing and sustainability.