LawFuel Power List 2025 No. 15 The former Attorney-General (2008-2016) remains New Zealand’s pre-eminent Treaty of Waitangi and constitutional lawyer. His 2025 work included leading Hawke’s Bay councils’ negotiations with government over Cyclone Gabrielle recovery and representing former Labour ministers called before the Covid Royal Commission (they refused attendance; Finlayson provided cover). His memoir, Yes,
LawFuel Power List 2025 Walker holds the South Auckland warrant alongside Alysha McClintock’s Auckland brief, managing major prosecutions in one of New Zealand’s busiest jurisdictions. South Auckland’s crime rates—particularly serious violence and gang-related offenses—mean Walker’s team handles high-volume, high-stakes cases with limited resources. She’s been leading prosecutions at Meredith Connell for years, earning respect for
LawFuel Power List 2025 No. 22 Callinan, formerly Simpson Grierson’s veteran litigator, now leads the Commerce Commission during its most transformative period in two decades. Recent enforcement includes criminal prosecution against One NZ (satellite communications claims), Kiwibank (Fair Trading breaches), TSB (unreasonable fees). The Commission’s expanded powers under Commerce Act reforms—merger call-ins, predatory pricing tests,
LawFuel Power List 2025 No.24 Nicholson’s September 2025 KC appointment recognized her role as Chief Parliamentary Counsel and CEO of the Parliamentary Counsel Office—where, as the document notes, “drafting is where power hides.” Every piece of legislation passes through her office. That’s not hyperbole—it’s structural reality. From the Emissions Trading Scheme to health reforms to
LawFuel Power List 2005 Former Fonterra General Counsel Cordner is inaugural Chief Legal Counsel for Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand), consolidating 20 former District Health Boards into a single entity under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act. His ability to handle large-scale organizational structures positions him at the forefront of NZ’s most ambitious health
LawFuel Power List 2005 No. 27 Epati’s September 2025 KC appointment made her New Zealand’s first Pacific silk—a milestone that transcends individual achievement. As NZ Law Society President (2019-2022), the first Pacific Islander and youngest person elected to the role, she championed diversity, mental health, work-life balance, and bullying/harassment reforms. She was LawFuel’s lawyer of
LawFuel Law Power List No. 33 (Not to be confused with Tim Clarke at Richmond Chambers.) Clarke is Russell McVeagh’s Wellington-based public law partner who’s long had major policy-makers’ ears. An effective lobbyist as well as lawyer, he represents major corporate and non-government interests in public sector activity with encyclopedic knowledge of government and political
LawFuel Power List 2025 No. 34 The “divorce trust diva” has consistently held top rankings in both global and Asia-Pacific Chambers guides, handling high-profile divorce cases with multi-jurisdictional complications and appearing in the LawFuel list since 2019. Her practice involves complex relationship property matters, particularly where trusts obscure asset ownership. Recent personal challenges, including the
LawFuel Power List 2025 No. 38 LawFuel’s “Lawyer of the Year” (2023), Coates moved to Thorndon Chambers in September 2024 after over a decade as Kāhui Legal partner. She received the Te Pae Tata Award (2023) for work on Ellis v R [2020] NZSC 89—the landmark and controversial Supreme Court case recognizing posthumous legal proceedings
Article source: Liberty Law Center, CO A DUI charge can lead to severe penalties, but a conviction isn’t inevitable. The outcome may depend on challenging the prosecution’s evidence at every stage, from the legality of the initial traffic stop to the scientific accuracy of chemical tests. A strategic, methodical defense is crucial for identifying procedural
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