Is There a Lawyer in the House? Plenty, actually

Is There a Lawyer in the House? Plenty, actually
Is There a Lawyer in the House? Plenty, actually

There have always been lawyers-aplenty in parliament, but taking a leaf from the LawFuel book, The Herald’s Sasha Borissenko decided to take a look at some of the ‘more colourful’ of the profession by providing her ‘listicle’.

>> See the LawFuel Power List – The Country’s 50 Most Powerful Lawyers

Is There a Lawyer in the House? Plenty, actually

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Winston Peters did not respond to any request for information about his legal qualification or career, which involved a four year stint ((1974-78) at Russell McVeagh.

Among those who did –

Chris Bishop – who clerked at Russell McVeagh and Crown Law and evidently slept under his desk after completing a 24,000 word dissertation and final essay.

Is There a Lawyer in the House? Plenty, actually

Simon Bridges – the LSE and Oxford graduate who worked at Kensington Swan and then did the Crown Law stint in Tauranga. “Politics was a surprisingly refreshing and positive eperience” after his “grimy” court work, he reported.

Judith Collins – Former Simpson Grierson lawyer who also completed a Master of Taxation course she was President of the ADLS. She apparently wanted to make a difference “at a more macro level”.

Golriz Ghahraman completed her LLB/BA at Auckland but said the university was too geared towards corporate law, completing her Master of Laws at Oxford.

Andrew Little – Justice Minister Little was prompted to enter the law after being stimulated by the Arthur Allan Thomas case as a teen. However he wasn’t for Big Law, rather he worked at the EPU but turned down corporate law work despite the offers. “I got to spar wirth cprorates mant times bigger and legal terms many times more powerful and preval for the workers,” the said.

David Parker LawFuel

David Parker graduated from Otago and worked at Anderson Lloyd as managing partner and litigation chief. He also enjoyed a successful stint working in law in London before deciding he wanted to enter politics to change laws rather than challenge them.

Chris Penk saw law as a good addition for his CV, adding that it was also good for ‘his eventual role as a lawmaker’. Nice.

Duncan Webb was a well known legal academic after completing his doctorate in law and acting as a Lane Neave partner. The ‘heart breaking’ loss of claims by homeowners against insurers in Christchurch following the earthquakes was an issue that took a toll on him, but a legal career beckoned because it sounded interesting.

Is There a Lawyer in the House? Plenty, actually

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