Power Law

LawFuel Power List 2025 No. 8 LawFuel’s 2024 Lawyer of the Year, Ron Mansfield’s defence of eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne in the 2024 murder trial was New Zealand’s highest-profile criminal case in a generation—eight weeks of wall-to-wall media coverage, a jury note revealing “most people don’t think there’s enough evidence to support suicide” but acquitting

LawFuel Power Lists 2025 No. 13 Allen’s appointment as Chief Ombudsman (January 2025, taking office March 31) fills Peter Boshier’s activist shoes. His CV is eclectic: commercial litigation at Rudd Watts & Stone, CEO of New Zealand Post, Secretary of Foreign Affairs (MFAT), Chair of NZ Racing Board. Few lawyers have run a $1 billion

LawFuel Power List 2025 No. 6 Maria Dew completed her two-year term as NZ Bar Association president in 2024, but her influence only sharpened. She’s the profession’s trusted investigator-in-chief – the Royal Australasian College of Physicians review (2025, critical of examination processes), the Hamilton Crown Solicitor workplace conduct probe, historic Labour Party abuse allegations, the

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. 19 Gatland joined the Financial Markets Authority in December 2017 from the Serious Fraud Office and Meredith Connell. Her enforcement portfolio has sharpened: civil claims against Tower Insurance, litigation involving Rockfort Markets, high-profile Du Val property group prosecution. With CCCFA enforcement transferring to the FMA, her regulatory remit expands. The