Profile
“I will continue to empower and encourage my staff to perform at their best as I have done for the last decade. I will continue to advocate for my clients, embracing new technology and being open to business and industry changes”
Ken Dixon,
Dixon Insurance Services
Caroline Rieger found her true passion in employment law and human rights after a successful and varied civil litigation practice. She founded the boutique employment law firm Black Door Law in 2021 and serves as its director and principal lawyer.
Rieger’s legal journey wasn’t typical; she took a break between high school and university to travel overseas for nearly a year. When she returned, she viewed law as a qualification to help people, and that observation gave her a clear sense of purpose. Despite health challenges in her second year at university and becoming a single parent during that time, she graduated law school and progressed in her career.
Becoming a partner at a firm was an accomplishment, but Rieger considers launching Black Door Law to be her most significant professional achievement. She is delighted that the firm is developing, growing and flourishing.
“That demonstrates you can remove the artificial metrics of performance that law firms have been using, such as average billable hours and individual budgets,” she says. “You can use a collaborative and people-centric approach that our incredible clients value and that ensures we truly operate as a team.”
As a recognised Elite Woman of 2023 by NZ Lawyer, Rieger asserts that the true definition of reaching the pinnacle of your career is living on your own terms, caring for people, and being involved in projects and work that you find meaningful.
“I believe that my persistence and desire to create a work environment that I would have wanted to work in as a junior lawyer and still want to work in now is why Black Door Law is going from strength to strength,” she says. “We focus on the clients; we focus on the work; we look out for each other; and we contribute to our community. If that makes me an Elite Woman, I will take it.”
Managing a thriving law firm and a busy home life with three children can be challenging. But Rieger takes it all in stride, noting that balancing her time between clients, supporting and developing the firm’s team, and her family is a work in progress.
“I have become more considered with what I say yes to, and I’m becoming more comfortable saying no,” she says. “Black Door Law is a true values-led firm, and I use those values to guide me through challenges and continue to come back to our ethos of putting people at the centre of what we do.”
Her overall approach as a team leader is to demonstrate and maintain the firm’s values. Rieger has gained a reputation for her ability to build relationships, which she believes are the foundation of everything and are only genuinely formed through authentic connection and trust.
“In the professional sense, this is how our large clients view us as their partner, not their lawyer, and why most of our new clients come through referrals from current and past clients, colleagues, and professional relationships,” she says.
Rieger hopes to inspire others to build a varied and interesting career while realising their career path doesn’t necessarily have to be linear. She acknowledges that if you love the work, where you do it does not matter as long as you have the right people around you.
Level 9, 36 Brandon Street, Wellington 6011
04 280 3980
caro@blackdoorlaw.co.nz
linkedin.com/in/carolinerieger
blackdoorlaw.co.nz
Caroline Rieger
Director and Principal Lawyer
Black Door Law
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“To be able to give back to the community is rewarding and fulfilling. I am honoured to be in a position where I can raise funds for those less fortunate and in need”
Ken Dixon,
Dixon Insurance Services
2010–2012
2012–2015
2015–2018
2019–2021
2021–present
Solicitor at Bramwell Grossman
2010-
2012
Solicitor at Thomas Dewar Sziranyi Letts
2012–
2015
Senior Solicitor at DLA Piper
2015–
2018
Partner and Head of the Employment Law Team at Morrison Kent
2019–
2021
Director and Principal Lawyer at Black Door Law
2021–
present
Assistant Vice President and Senior Broker at MJ Hall & Company since 2018
Present
Milestones
Aug 2022
Milestones
Sept 2021
Feb 2022
Apr 2022
Jul 2022
Aug
2022
Suncorp Bank introduces Solar Home Bonus offer for customers who are choosing renewable energy for their homes
Sept 2021
Month-on-month market share growth commences
Feb 2022
Suncorp Bank wins the Canstar award for most outstanding value in investment loans
Apr 2022
Suncorp Bank wins Money Magazine’s Bank of the Year and Business Bank of the Year awards for the fifth year in a row
Jul 2022
Suncorp Bank’s turnaround times are the lowest they have ever been. The lender becomes Australia’s first certified carbon neutral bank for both its operation and transaction services
Aug 2022
Milestones
How does he distinguish himself among fellow brokers?
“I believe all brokers are working very hard in a difficult market,” he says. “However, I have demonstrated continued growth, advocacy and performance on my client’s behalf, which is now recognised [for 10 consecutive years] in the Elite Broker awards.”
In 1990, Dixon got started with FAI, working in claims and as a team leader. From the late 1990s up until 2003, he worked at FAI and Suncorp in underwriting and as an area manager at VACC, CGU (South East Queensland). From 2003 to 2012, he got into broking and eventually started Dixon Insurance in 2013. Since then, he’s accumulated numerous acccolades, including Elite Broker, Diversity and Equity, and Fast Broker awards.
During the pandemic, Dixon challenged insurers over the Quarantine Act application to insurance wordings. His argument was that the Quarantine Act does not apply as an exclusion, as the Biosecurity Act was invoked by the Morrison Government, and this was not a subsequent amendment to the Quarantine Act. The test case in the Appeals court was won for Dixon’s client with a unanimous five-judge verdict.
He remains focused on transport, manufacturing, motor trade, engineering and large farm clients.
What are his plans for the future?
On a business level, “more of the same. I will continue to empower and encourage my staff to perform at their best as I have done for the last decade. I will continue to advocate for my clients, embracing new technology and being open to business and industry changes.”
On a personal level, Dixon invests significant time, effort and funds, along with his GT3, to support many charities through his passion for motorsport. From participating in and sponsoring the Thunderbolt Run (which provides tens of thousands of dollars in support for Beyond Blue and Prostate Cancer), to organising and running the Track Knights for Amira charity night where 28 Exotic Supercars raised funds through passenger laps in wet conditions, Dixon states “this is our time to give back to the community and those in need. My friendships and association with those seeking to do the same, allows us to contribute to those less fortunate and raise funds and awareness”.
He adds: “To be able to give back to the community is rewarding and fulfilling. I am honoured to be in a position where I can raise funds for those less fortunate and in need.”