In memory of Jessica Aroha Greig - 21.5.1992 - 1.8.2018
Jessica Greig - LLB, BA
Jess joined Bay Legal on 11 June 2018. She tragically died in a car accident on 1 August 2018. She will be forever in our thoughts.
From the moment Jess came in to our office she brought her happy, can do attitude to everything she touched. In fact she couldn’t even wait out her few weeks break before starting with us - coming in to the office instead to look over recent files so she could get a feel for how we worked.
As those who know Jess well it will come as no surprise to learn that she was a great contributor to all conversations within our office and immediately fitted in like she had always been here. She had already started coming up with ideas for our work xmas function.
Jess immediately impressed us as someone who was not accustomed to sitting still. She threw herself in to her work with her sending an all out email only a week ago to most of the senior lawyers advising she had capacity to take on more work. We quickly learnt that Jess would give anything a go and was good at 10 pin bowling, darts, pool and most sports she turned her hand to. She joined the gym with some of us from the office and quickly showed that she never did things by halves in that area either.
Jess also had a huge love for her partner Luke and Luke’s son Reign and was totally committed to being the best “Reign’s Jessie” (as he would sometimes call her) that she could be. Jess had a maturity beyond her years and in a family court practice such as ours, she modelled the dream outcome for all separated families by being clear about the importance of all the adults in Reign’s life. We are devastated for Luke’s loss.
Jess had a close relationship with her family and a strong connection with her culture. We are told that her swearing in conducted in Te Reo was especially moving.
The comments that we have received from Judges, colleagues and clients who were impressed by Jess’ acumen, dignity, preparation and professionalism is testament to Jess. She was a “rising star”. Her future in law was very bright.
Jess was an extremely loyal person who was proud of the work that she did. She struggled to leave her previous employment with Philip Ross at Cathedral Law Lane who had given her her start in law. She loved the varied work that she did in his office, particularly the criminal work. Jess made the hard decision to come to work with us to grow and develop and learn more about family law within a supportive team of women lawyers.
We will miss Jess’ smiling happy face, her laugh, her chatter, her growing confidence in her own ability and her zest for life in general. Jess was a young woman with huge potential and natural ability to connect with almost everyone she met. We loved having Jess with us even if it was only for such a cruelly cut short time. She is very much missed by us all and our hearts go out to Jess’ family.