Anne is a member of Canterbury Chambers in Christchurch. She specialises in civil litigation, employment law, criminal law, regulatory law and health law.

Over the past 18 years, Anne has appeared in all of New Zealand's courts, including the Supreme Court, acting for private clients and the Crown in relation to significant judicial review cases, appeals, disciplinary prosecutions, criminal trials and employment cases.

She was inspired to join the profession through watching her aunt, Penny le Page, junior for Mike Bungay in a criminal case.

"When I first met Westlaw I was horribly shocked. My old and trusted friend, the precursor to Westlaw, Brookers Online, had been retired and in its place was something quite, quite different. It wasn't just me who was stunned. I remember there was talk of setting up a special Facebook page entitled, "Bring Back Brookers"!"

That was three years ago. These days Anne tells another story. "I wouldn't swap Westlaw now for Brookers. The folders are a vital feature for me as I can save my searches in them and know they'll be there when I need them." A more recent discovery is the ability to annotate a document or text as she reads it. "I think that's so useful when operating electronic files. I can make my notes and then save everything to a folder.

"There are a couple of other tools that are indispensible. I use the tabs (Related Documents) and the citation symbols all the time. Westlaw has streamlined my research immeasurably, and I can use it anywhere - in the car, at home, in the court. That portability is a huge added bonus to me. I need that flexibility as it makes it possible for me to work part time and meet deadlines, regardless of where I am."

"Westlaw has helped me become even more efficient. These days, because I juggle the needs of a young family with the demands of my practice, there is an inevitable sense of urgency about the time I need to spend researching. I have to be efficient and I need to use the limited time I have available well. Westlaw has cut the amount of time spent fruitlessly mucking around trying to find what I need that I can't charge for. These days I know I can get what I want, when I want it AND it will be where I can find it - in one of my folders.

"An example of how Westlaw saved the day, and me, is when I was asked to do some urgent research for one of our senior barristers. Once I'd finished locating what was wanted, annotating and putting the documents all in order, I printed them out, and then saved my work to a folder. I put the printed material on the barrister's desk but somehow it vanished. By the time its absence was discovered, it was too late to do the research all over again. I went straight to my personalised folders and, joy of joys, there it was. All I had to do was print it out again! Brilliant! Everybody was so relieved.

"Aside from the excellent features and functionality, Westlaw's content in the areas I depend on - Employment and Criminal Law, is full, accurate and current. I trust it to give me what I need."