Busy solicitors often wish they could be in two places at once and at Tauranga’s Sharp Tudhope Lawyers that’s exactly what appears to be going on.

The illusion is in fact courtesy of identical twin brothers James and Alister Moran who are both now working as solicitors at the leading city law firm.

A desire for a great work-life balance and passion for the law has brought the high achieving brothers to the Bay. James joined Sharp Tudhope’s commercial team in 2012 after completing his accountancy degree in Dunedin and law degree at the University of Waikato – the latter achieved with honours.

Alister, whose education is almost a mirror-image of James’, followed suit earlier this year when he was offered a similar role in Sharp Tudhope’s property team.

“We are thrilled to be working at the same firm, we have always made a good team and it’s great to be able to bounce ideas off each other to solve a problem,” says Alister.

Physical appearances aside, Alister and James have always been very similar; from places on the first XI cricket team at Sacred Heart College in Auckland, to leaving the ‘big smoke’ to study in Dunedin in 2004, to their matching accounting and law degrees. 

Peter Wilson, Sharp Tudhope’s general manager, credits the brothers’ successes to their mutual intelligence and maturity.

“It is very refreshing to see two young men with such bright futures. James has been an asset to the firm from the get-go, and Alister has also shown his strengths in the time he has been here too. We look forward to seeing great things from this duo.

I must admit that some of the staff are still getting use to how similar they look – there have been a few cases of mistaken identity since Alister joined the team,” Peter laughs.

The twins remain humble and say it is thanks to their upbringing by their supportive parents that they have both achieved their goal to practice law.

“Mum and Dad are extremely proud of us. They have played a big part in our success and we owe them a lot for the amount of sacrifices they have made to see us get to where we are,” says Alister.

Far from sibling rivalry, James and Alister have high aspirations for themselves and each other. 

“Our ambition is to be the Bay’s leading lawyers in our respective fields of practice. Working side-by-side at Sharp Tudhope, we believe we can reach this goal and continue to support each other,” says James.  

 

Photo: Alister (on the left wearing a tie) and James.