The Game Changers is a series of short interviews wherein we ask LL.M. graduates to identify one individual who has had a substantial impact on the individual’s LL.M. experience.

There are two purposes of this series: one, to highlight the fact that each LL.M. experience is unique, and two, to recognise individuals who have made an impact on someone’s life.

In this post, Sanket Palshikar discusses the Game Changer in his time as an LL.M. student at the Victoria University of Wellington.

The Game Changer: Tyrone Barugh, Senior Solicitor, Land Information NZ

Why is he the Game Changer?

Tyrone (my then classmate and now a dear friend) has made a big impact on me during my studies at VUW. Tyrone and I met during our employment laws paper – my first course for the year and he was at the time juggling between LLM and a full-time job with the government.

Incidentally, I secured a part-time job in the same organisation where Tyrone was working and since then we became mates. He has been friendly, kind, always approachable and eased my transition into learning law in a foreign land. He has provided his ‘solicitor’ expertise in providing feedback on my research papers.

Through him, I got insights into the legal landscape of NZ as well as learnt the art of balancing student/work life. I even picked up some of the Kiwi slangs from him. 😛 When things went south, his words of encouragement always uplifted my spirits.

He is one of the very few persons who still encourages me to take up further studies and be enrolled as a solicitor and barrister in NZ. Last but not the least, he was the only person cheering for me on the day of graduation!