A Whakatāne family has reached a rare milestone, with three generations now practising law.

The Kay family recently welcomed its newest lawyer, Francesca Kay, who represents the third generation of the family to enter the profession.

The family’s legal legacy began with Beven Kay, who became a property lawyer more than 50 years ago.

His son, Jonathan Kay, followed in his footsteps, choosing law as a career nearly 40 years ago, although he specialised in litigation rather than property law.

Jonathan Kay said his daughter was never pressured to follow the same career path he did.

“There was no expectation she was ever going to become a lawyer,” he said.  “I put out all sorts of different career options to her.”

He said he was surprised when Francesca told him she wanted to study law.

Mr Kay said although having three generations of lawyers in the family was special, what mattered most to him was that his daughter was carving out her own place in the profession.

“She’s earned her place,” he said.

Mr Kay began his legal career in Te Awamutu, like his father, before moving to Auckland to practise law. He later spent time working overseas before eventually making his way to Whakatāne.

He has been based in Whakatāne since 1993 and now has his own firm, Eastbay Law, where he works in family and criminal law.

Francesca has begun her journey in the legal profession at Hamertons, the firm where her father was previously a partner before establishing Eastbay Law. She was sworn in at the Hamilton High Court by Justice Becroft.

Ms Kay said her work so far had involved a wide range of legal matters, but she expected to focus mainly on property and criminal law in the future.

She said having both a father and grandfather who were lawyers did not give her an advantage or disadvantage when entering the profession.

“I kind of kept the information quiet when I was going through law school that my father or grandfather were lawyers”.

She said when people did find out that her dad was a lawyer, they would ask her if she was going to work for her dad. She always answered “no”, she would not be working for him.

Ms Kay said she was optimistic about the diversity of the legal profession.

“I just think it’s good to see the number of young lawyers coming through, especially women, especially Māori,” she said.

Ms Kay began working as a lawyer in late November and has enjoyed her first few months in the profession. She said she was looking forward to a long career in law.

With three generations of the Kay family now having practised law, the family’s connection to the profession spans more than half a century. Although the milestone is significant, Mr Kay said the real achievement lay in seeing the next generation succeed on their own terms, continuing a family legacy while building a future in Whakatāne.