The law firm has a long history with Māori legal work, including treaty negotiations and Māori land cases.

A Waikato law firm is learning te reo Māori and tikanga Māori and they believe other businesses should jump on their waka, too.

McCaw Lewis has a long history with Māori legal work, including treaty negotiations and Māori land cases.

"It was just absolutely fundamental that as a law firm we pronounce things correctly, because that's just the right thing to do," managing director Aidan Warren said.

Warren said the firm has always celebrated a cultural hour but the lessons are now more deliberate.

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The work they've been involved in over the last few decades, especially with Waikato-Tainui, means there will be more work for them in Māori commercial property.

KELLY HODEL/STUFF McCaw Lewis staff learn from te reo teacher Wairangi Jones.

"Because of the Māori economy and the investment we've made in all those other processes like the tribunal, the fruits of that investment are starting to be realised with the Māori economy.

"It made sense to have a wider, more deliberate plan around this, but equally sitting alongside our values."

The firm has just completed its second lesson. There are two streams: one for beginners and one for those that are more proficient.

The lessons are not compulsory either, something Warren said was important.

"That was deliberate because from my point of view, my mother's generation and even Māori themselves - they come to it themselves when they're comfortable.

"It wasn't something we wanted to force but we're really pleased by the uptake thus far."

Around 80 per cent of the 53 staff took up the first lesson.

The firm's te reo Māori teacher is Wairangi Jones, a former school teacher and principal of more than 40 years.

He has set up his own te reo Māori and tikanga Māori consultancy, Tūtira Mai NZ.

Other big businesses have also joined the voyage to get their staff bilingual, including Spark, Fonterra, and Auckland Council, according to a spokesman from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

﻿"If you want to work in a world other than mainstream you need to have a sense of authenticity and commitment because then you're in a better place to advise people in their context."