He and wife Georgina rapidly concluded the last thing they wanted was to leave one big city for another.
"We thought why not make the lifestyle change and bring the kids back to NZ where they can be around the family."
It was a homecoming for Mr Hawkes. Born in Wellington, his family relocated to Tauranga when he was 10 and he attended Otumoetai Intermediate and college before completing his law studies at Victoria University. After a brief stint with Bell Gully, he was recruited by UK firm Freshfields for a job in London.
"A number of big international firms were looking for people in the mid-1990s, particularly for the Commonwealth jurisdictions," he said.
Freshfields provided his entry to work in the Middle East and Asia. After 18 months, American firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy offered him a position in their new Singapore office.
He and Georgina decided it was a great opportunity, and he ended up spending eight years with the firm in Singapore, before accepting a partnership at Lovells.
He stayed with Lovells for five years, building a strong reputation, which resulted in him being offered the position of Southeast Asian energy and infrastructure head at White and Case.
"I was really flattered to be approached by them," said Mr Hawkes.
However, by 2013, the constant travel throughout the region was wearing thin. He resigned and the family relocated to Tauranga, but he continued to consult to former clients in Asia, travelling to the region every month or so.
"It was great, keeping in touch with people and time staying in the work flow," he said. "But then it started to look more like the job I was doing before."
He decided to take a complete break and took the next nine months off to spend more time with his family.
"It was fantastic -- I really needed to look around and figure out what I was going to do next," he said.
His new career path was initially triggered on the sidelines of a school sports game, when he got into a conversation with fellow parent and Hobec partner John Mackay.
"He told me they had some major commercial work I might be interested in, but initially I said no."
A few months passed and Hobec called again. This time he accepted an offer to join the firm as a special counsel to work with Port of Tauranga on the groundbreaking 10-year Kotahi logistics deal and joint venture.
"It got me back into working again and thinking about the bigger picture," said Mr Hawkes, who accepted an offer to join the firm as partner last year.
He focuses on banking and finance transactions, including public private partnerships in sectors such as roading and education facilities in New Zealand and is also working with New Zealand companies on projects in Asia.
"There is also a high level of inbound investment into the Bay of Plenty," he said.
"It's been a pleasant surprise to find yourself working on a level of business that is national in scale. There's a level of sophistication coming into the business here that is impressive."
Lifestyle delivers big time
Ken Hawkes and his family are very much embracing the lifestyle they returned to experience.
"I love getting out on the water, fishing and diving," said Mr Hawkes, who also plays tennis and golf.
"The lifestyle was certainly a big part of our coming back. This place is set up for it. It's part of the attraction and it's why people continue to come here."
Mr Hawkes and his wife, Georgina, former lawyer and a fulltime mother, have two sons and a daughter, aged 15, 13 and 11, who attend Aquinas College. "The kids love it here and they've really gotten into their sport," he said.
Ken Hawkes
•Role -- Partner, Holland Beckett Lawyers
•Born -- Wellington, New Zealand
•Age -- 46
•First job -- Lawyer
•Recently read -- The Big Short by Michael Lewis
