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OUR PEOPLE PETER DAWSON: BY CAROL FORSYTH W as to how we set our personal and ith a passion for the sea and an interest in law, it was obvious that Peter Dawson would follow a career path into maritime law. His passion for ships and the people who serve on them began as a young boy growing up on the beach in Durban, South Africa. "I spent as much time in and on the water as I could, on a variety of craft". He combined his passion for the sea and his interest in law by taking one of the first elective Maritime Law courses at the University of Natal in Durban in his LLB degree and then progressed to doing a Masters in Shipping Law through the University of Cape Town. Maritime law has been his exclusive focus throughout his 22 year career in South Africa and New Zealand. He acknowledges that the interaction between the sea and the people on the vessels that creates a unique and special breed of people who are in many cases charismatic, entrepreneurial and larger than life. Interacting with these people on a daily basis is challenging and rewarding. With his vision and goal set on becoming a maritime lawyer, once qualified, Peter joined a boutique maritime law firm specialising in salvage and cargo work in Cape Town and served his articles of clerkship in this environment. This led to several years as a young lawyer being thrust into the world of multiple large casualties off the South African coast. "In the pre-ISM days of the early 90's we dealt with vessel strandings, sinkings, collisions, oil pollution and large salvage cases, cargo damage to list but a few. We also dealt with crews in crisis and multiple arrests of vessels in Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique". During that time Peter was being exposed to a depth and variety of maritime law matters that he thought at the time was the norm, but in retrospect he realises that this was a unique training ground and foundation for his future career, and affirmed his choice of Maritime law as his chosen specialty. "I believe we must be very deliberate, focussed and practical as to how we set our personal and COMMITTED AND FOCUSED business goals and lead our lives" he says. "Many people have plans for their businesses but not for their personal lives and the two cannot be severed". When Peter set up his first law firm in Cape Town (www. oceanlaw.co.za) in 1996, he practiced as the only dedicated maritime law firm operating in South Africa at the time. The firm grew quickly and expanded from a core of maritime law into general marine law, including an increased emphasis on the fishing industry, and acting for offshore interests in the gas sector and unusually, in the offshore harvesting of diamonds. "The Orange River, which is the northern border of South Africa, travels through diamondiferous areas and has been sweeping diamonds out to sea for hundreds of years. Diamonds are harvested along the shore and in the surf zone within 100km of the river mouth, using specialized vessels and equipment." He explains. During this time of great change in South Africa, Peter was also instrumental in bringing about significant changes to the way fishery rights were allocated. "We acted for a whole bunch of previously disadvantaged fishermen and took the Ministry of Fisheries to court. It was a big case and we did it on risk with absolutely no funding, but succeeded in the end." In view of the deteriorating political climate in South Africa, when the opportunity arose for Peter and his family to emigrate to New Zealand he joined a Nelson law firm and was instrumental in establishing its maritime department. He is very complimentary about how the New Zealand marine industry has embraced him as an immigrant to New Zealand. He says that in 10 years he has not experienced any negative push back from New Zealanders, but copped a good deal of flak from his support of the Springboks in the early years. He is now a New Zealand citizen and a firm All Black supporter. After four years in New Zealand, he followed the pattern of what he did in Cape Town and set up the New Zealand branch of Dawson and Associates, a dedicated maritime practise based in Nelson but serving New Zealand and the South Pacific. This was a deliberate and strategic move and from the outset, he has set up the business and its systems to be high mobile, and tech intensive. "In effect we now operate as a 'practice without premises'. With many clients scattered around New Zealand and further afield, we are highly mobile, tech savvy and can practice wherever we find ourselves." He uses skype, LinkedIn and other tools to keep in touch with the industry locally and internationally. "We must be deliberate in not letting our geographic isolation affect our approach to business in New Zealand. It is important to keep abreast of what the marine industry is doing internationally and to incorporate some of the thinking in what we are doing here" New a d ser wa ou to no m fu c s w m i On the focus of the business he adds, "We looked carefully at the marine industry in NZ and identified particular areas in which we could use our skills and talents to the best effect." he says. They are now involved in the superyacht sector, offshore oil and gas support vessels, coastal shipping, restricted 38 Professional Skipper November/December 2012 Peter Dawson