LawFuel Power List 2025
No. 41
Perennial power lister Chen continues exerting influence as chair of the Superdiversity Institute and president of NZ Asian Lawyers, recently establishing the Mai Chen Legal Innovation Award at Otago University to encourage innovative thinking.
Having established her eponymous firm before ‘sacking herself’ and becoming a barrister, she serves as adjunct professor at Auckland Law School and sits on numerous boards serving commercial/public interests. She’s more policy commentator than power executor, but that commentariat role secures continued influence. Her views abound on topics ranging from AI and cultural intelligence to MMP’s effects to South Island road trips.
Chen’s power is discursive rather than transactional—she shapes how people think about law, diversity, innovation, even if she’s not arguing landmark cases or steering billion-dollar deals. At No. 41, her placement reflects sustained profile and thought leadership, even as her courtroom practice remains less prominent than earlier career.
