From law office to legal thriller

For retired commercial lawyer Les Allen, his book If That’s What It Takes is representative of New Zealand’s legal world. “So many books are courtroom dramas, but the vast majority of law practitioners never set foot in a court,” says Les. “There is plenty of drama in other aspects of the law.”

Les’ book opens with an actual historical event in 1970’s Northern Ireland which forms the back story to one of the main characters. From there, the book is a drama set in small-town New Zealand, featuring the kind of legal problems Les encountered with his clients. Mortgagee sales, ethical pressure, financial troubles and the internal life of a law office all became part of the world he wanted to explore.

While his book is fiction, some scenes were inspired by real cases Les worked on during his career. The quarry at the centre of one storyline, for example, grew out of a dramatic mortgagee sale he dealt with, while several characters are amalgamations of people he knew.

The protagonist, Jim Mansell, Les describes as a reflection of people he admires. “Jim is the kind of lawyer who tries to protect ordinary people and small businesses, even when doing the right thing costs him personally,” says Les. That idea came from a difficult period in Les’s own professional life, when a partner’s wrongdoing left others legally bound to repay defrauded clients. It took years to sort out and was incredibly stressful.

That experience left him disenchanted with the law for a time. “I considered quitting, but thanks to the people around me, my team, and my clients, I regained my enthusiasm.” That affection for the people behind the profession runs through the novel. Les wanted to write not just about lawyers, but about the “back-house” people who keep a firm moving – receptionists, secretaries and staff who often see a different side of clients from the partners.

In the book Les deliberately allows some wrongdoers to avoid punishment. It reflects, he says, the reality that justice is not always served. Powerful people can escape consequences, and legal outcomes can feel incomplete. Sometimes the people who try hardest to do the right thing pay the highest price.

Les’s legal training made the writing easier in some ways because he understood the world he was depicting. It also made the process slower. He found himself constantly checking details. He wasn’t the only one. “My editor questioned a scene about a bank opening specially for the lawyer, saying it wouldn’t happen. I had to explain that it could, because it did.”

The novel took about four years to write, mostly while Les was still working full time. He wrote on weekends and during holidays. Much of the book is set in Northland, “I’ve a deep affection for the coastline around Tutukaka and Matapouri Bay.” Authenticity was important so Les would drive drove around Whangārei gathering street names and checking other details. He asked his wife, Jenny, for help with visual aspects, such describing women’s clothing for female characters, “which, he says, “she found hilarious.”

Writing the book was one thing. Design, publication and marketing were another. “I wanted the book to look like something you’d find at Whitcoulls, so I didn’t cut corners on the cover. My son developed the concept design, and self-publishing specialists YourBooks produced the colourful and dramatic final artwork.”

After approaching publishers and often receiving little response, Les chose to self-publish an initial print run of 300 copies, followed by another 100. Getting noticed by bookshops and readers was an ongoing challenge. “Marketing was harder than writing,” he remarks. “In Australia, local authors receive stronger support; I’d like to see more backing for homegrown fiction here.”

Still, the book found its audience. Readers told him they finished it in one sitting. Les donated two copies to the village library. “I think I have always been a frustrated author,” He says. “My goal was to get a story out into the world.”

These days, Les is a member of the book club at Summerset by the Park, where he has lived for almost 18 months, and is a regular in the village library. It’s a fitting next chapter for someone who’s spent years weaving the stories around him into a book of his own.

To learn more visit https://lesallenauthor.com/

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This is an article from the Spring 2026 edition of Summerset Scene magazine

Click here to read the full issue