New chair at century-old law firm Tompkins Wake sets new frontier for diversity

Scott Ratuki now heads the top table at law firm Tompkins Wake. Photo / Supplied

When Scott Ratuki, the pierced, tattooed, muso new chair of venerable law firm Tompkins Wake, was a cub lawyer, his response to being told to get rid of a nose stud was to slap on his face the biggest sticking plaster he could find.

The plaster was the trademark of a rapper at the time, and sure enough, the law firm (not Tompkins Wake) eventually relented, and back in went the diamond stud, which marked his engagement.

Today Ratuki, 45, agrees the episode was a misguided youthful stubbornness, but the nose stud remains, along with earrings and tribal tattoos on his arms and legs, a tribute to his Fijian heritage.

Out of respect to his profession Ratuki, a skilled musician who was aiming for a future in jazz before his parents leaned on him to first get a "real" degree, has always worn a long-sleeved shirt to work and a suit four days a week.

And while he believes the legal profession is working "very hard" to increase diversity in its ranks, he agrees the combination of his ethnicity - Fijian father, New Zealand European mother - and his new appointment at one of the country's top law firms still puts him very much in the minority.

Even after doing legal studies at Hamilton's Fraser High School and completing management and law studies at Waikato University, Ratuki had no plans to practice law.

An accomplished drummer, the born and bred Waikatoite says he grew up playing music "somewhere between punk and metal" in a band and can't remember a time when he wasn't passionate about music. He'd dreamed of going to jazz school but a friend urged him to apply for jobs at two firms and he won interviews at both.

Ratuki joined Tompkins Wake, now marking its 100th year, in 2003 and has been a partner for nearly 13 years.

He heads the Hamilton-headquartered firm's commercial property practice and takes over as chair from Peter Fanning.

Over his years with Tompkins Wake, he's seen it grow by more than 700 per cent and expand into Auckland and the Bay of Plenty.

An award-winner for its innovation, strong team culture and recognition of the importance of life-work balance, Tompkins Wake's growth and success is due to its quiet ambition and policy of putting its people first, Ratuki believes.

"We're getting better at banging our own drum but generally we've just humbly and quietly got on with the job. We do need to keep telling out story but we will always do it with a level of humility that makes it authentic," he says.

He says the board keeps its nose out of management and he sees the chair's job as a service role.

"It's cool to be chair of Tompkins Wake but what does that actually mean? I have no power or voting rights and nor do I want a role like that. It's about service, it's about supporting Jon (Calder, chief executive) who does a great job, and cohesively bringing the partner group (28) together to drive all the aspirations we have."

He also wants the firm to consider what it will look like in another 50 to 100 years.

"I don't want to sound overly sentimental ... and I don't know the answer to that, but against our growth aspiration I would like to do it in a way where we integrate with Te Tiriti principles, and recognise the people who enabled us to be here.

"We are working on that, taking all the elements of diversity, but particularly Māori. Those sort of things have to be a clear part of your future."