John Bowie, LawFuel Publisher
The death of former Supreme Court judge Bill Wilson KC in September has been marked by a striking silence within New Zealand’s legal and media circles, a fact that itself seems more noteworthy than any tribute or obituary could be.
The Press pubished a respectful piece from Martin Van Beynen, (who had also written an excellent article in 2023 on the tragic end to Bill Wilson’s career) acknowledging Wilson’s impressive intellect, generosity, and ultimately tragic judicial career, almost no other major New Zealand outlet has bothered to note his passing in any substantial way.
Notably, his former firm Bell Gully and the greater legal establishment have offered no public commentary, an omission that speaks volumes about the system’s unease with uncomfortable legacies. It has taken leading King’s Counsel and longtime Wilson friend Jim Farmer to say what others did not have the internal fortitude to do.
Sir Robert Jones stepped up when others failed to by offering Bill an office and the management of boxer Joseph Parker, which Bill Wilson enjoyed thoroughly as a respite from doing his own rounds with the Judicial Conduct Commission. So too did his legal allies Colin Carruthers KC and Geoff Harley.
Wilson’s career trajectory underscores both the heights and the abyss a legal career in New Zealand can present. His fall from judicial grace, precipitated by allegations of a conflict of interest and fueled by a fervid media campaign, eventually led to a resignation that was received with a mixture of relief and quiet shame by those tasked with upholding the profession’s dignity.
It is hard not to see the lack of comment from the legal authorities and institutions as a form of self-protective amnesia; a refusal to engage with the inconvenient truths his career exposed about the judiciary’s internal politics, the fragility of reputation, and the cost of public scrutiny.
In the absence of any meaningful recognition or reflection from his peers or former colleagues, Wilson’s story feels doubly tragic. The establishment that once elevated him now shrinks from remembering him.
The near-total media blackout on reflections or tributes to Wilson’s death, apart from the single obituary serves as a cynical reminder of how reputational risk too often wins out over compassion or retrospection.
