News and Events

The story 'When you might need a mate' is written by Kim Proctor-Stephens, maritime legal consultant at Oceanlaw, and appears in the May/June 2024 issue of Professional Skipper magazine.
It is common for the team at Oceanlaw New Zealand to jump on a plane in response to an emergency situation in order to support and advise our clients on location. These situations can arise as a result of accidents or incidents or even 'raids' by regulatory authorities. The main purpose of us attending is that we will go and do some of the hard thinking for our clients in a situation which is both stressful and uncertain. Being there helps us to keep track of all the moving pieces.Our main job is to provide timely, effective and practical legal advice to our clients as to the various issues they are facing. For example, during Maritime NZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries' investigations, a vessel is often detained for a period of time to allow inspections to occur or evidence to be gathered.We all know a fishing vessel which is not fishing does not make any money, so our imperative is to get that vessel released and out fishing again, or perhaps the goal is to get her crew home in order to look after their wellbeing. Either way, we can be useful in assisting a client to navigate that process.Another reason we find ourselves jumping on a plane is because we are being called in to support our clients and their employees, skippers/masters and crew at interviews conducted by various regulatory authorities.We have a special status under the law to enable us to attend and advise our clients in those situations because, as lawyers, we are officers of the court and are bound by a whole host of duties toward our clients.Generally, only a lawyer will do in those situations and, although it's not always the case, they will often be the only ones permitted to attend an interview with a client.Although lawyers can be useful in supporting our clients as they navigate through such critical events, we can't do everything, and there is a role for someone with a larger brief than just dealing with the legal intricacies of the event.This year I have had occasion to up sticks and rush to the location of a serious maritime incident with my toothbrush in hand. It wasn't going to be a one-day trip. I was expecting this crisis to be, as it often is, logistically difficult to manage and stressful on clients and lawyers alike.This time was different. This time, our mates from FirstMate NZ had it all under control, so all we needed to do was concentrate on the things within each one of our own wheelhouses, mine being the legal stuff and the hard thinking that comes with that.We were met at the airport by the smiling face of a FirstMate navigator, a familiar face from the wider seafood whanau. I tagged along as my clients were briefed on the on-the-ground situation, and we were taken where we needed to be. Meeting rooms were organised, and quiet chats with those who needed a listening ear were undertaken without fuss or bother. The wellbeing of the crew and the company was the top priority.FirstMate even sorted the logistics of getting the crew down to Kmart to buy some essential clothing because they had walked off the vessel in what they were standing up in.The FirstMate team was very impressive. The quiet and unassuming manner in which they undertook to look after their fishing whanau was a pleasure to behold. I also know that behind the scenes, FirstMate was working on pulling resources together to support everyone involved in the aftermath, once the initial crisis died away.As good as we can be as solicitors, we don't offer the kinds of wraparound assistance I saw in action. It is our job as lawyers to think rationally and logically, sometimes making it necessary to take the emotion out of the situation to get the job done. The First Mate team was there to ensure that emotions were not left with nowhere to go.That begs the question, who would you call in a crisis? Well, both of us. If there is some s*** going down, your lawyer should definitely be on the immediate contact list. But there is room on that list for your FirstMate navigator, so don't forget them!If you don't have a lawyer but should have one, I can guarantee your navigator will be onto that with contacts, recommendations and suggestions. All that is required is to ask for their help.I know from personal experience, having worked with the team at FirstMate on the other side of the process, that they work tirelessly to facilitate access to the right services at the right time for people who have a need to access those services.The seafood whanau who are assisted by FirstMate in these circumstances often don't know where to turn, what to do or indeed, what facilities are available to them. FirstMate navigators make sure our seafood whanau who have an issue that needs sorting, whether it be related to business, family, mental health and wellbeing or legal matters (and the lists goes on), are put in touch with the right people.This work is often undertaken during unsociable hours and on an urgent basis. Having worked with FirstMate to provide some of that advice, it was wonderful to be able to witness the receiving end of that and see my clients supported in the way that they were by this organisation.It is true that, as lawyers, we can do a lot to help our clients and we will continue to do so. But, sometimes, when the worst happens, you do really need a mate.