The New QCs – Fewer of Them; New Criteria Too

The New QCs - Fewer of Them; New Criteria Too
The New QCs - Fewer of Them; New Criteria Too

The Attorney General has announced eight new Queen’s Counsel appointed under a process that includes new criteria with a focus upon access to justice issues.

“The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community lens,” David Parker said.

“It is pleasing to see the profession is making a good contribution to access to justice.”

The newly appointed Silks are:

Auckland – Stephen Hunter, Julie-Anne Kincade, Simon Foote, Janet McLean

Wellington – Nicolette Levy, Karen Feint

Dunedin – Leonard Andersen

Rotorua – Jonathan Temm

“Of particular note is the appointment of Professor Janet McLean of the University of Auckland who has been appointed under the Royal Prerogative in recognition of her extraordinary and longstanding contribution to, and development of, the law,” David Parker said.

The attached appendix provides brief biographical information about the new Queen’s Counsel.

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New Queen’s Counsel

Stephen Hunter

Stephen Hunter graduated with an LLB (Hons) and a BA from the University of Auckland in 1999 and an LLM from Harvard University in 2002, for which he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. He was admitted to the Bar in 1998. From 1998 to 1999, Mr Hunter served as a Judge’s Clerk to the late Sir Ivor Richardson in the Court of Appeal.

In 2000, he joined Russell McVeagh as a solicitor, before moving to the United States to study and then to London in 2002 to work in the litigation team at Herbert Smith. He returned to New Zealand in 2006 to work at Gilbert Walker in Auckland, becoming a partner in 2008, acting mainly in High Court civil cases. Mr Hunter also worked as a part-time lecturer in public law at the University of Auckland from 2006 to 2008.

After 8 years as a partner at Gilbert Walker, he became a barrister sole and a member of Shortland Chambers in 2016, focusing on commercial and regulatory matters in the High Court. He is a member of the Auckland Crown Prosecution Panel, the SPCA Pro Bono Panel, and the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. Mr Hunter also serves as a faculty member of the NZLS Litigation Skills Programme, as the New Zealand member of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration Board of Reporters, and as a trustee of the Hugo Charitable Trust.

The New QCs - Fewer of Them; New Criteria Too

Julie-Anne Kincade

Julie-Anne Kincade graduated with an LLB (Hons) from the University of Huddersfield in 1990 and was admitted in New Zealand in 2007. She began her legal career at the Chambers of Richard Ferguson (now known as Carmelite Chambers) in London, working as a criminal lawyer from 1991 until her departure to New Zealand in 2005. She started working at Meredith Connell as a Senior Solicitor in 2007 where she prosecuted criminal matters at all levels. Ms Kincade joined the independent bar in 2013 and spent the next three years at Verus Chambers where she mainly worked on the Lundy case. She is currently based at Blackstone Chambers and serves as a panel member for Kayes Fletcher Walker. Since 2015, Ms Kincade has been a faculty member and presenter at the NZLS Litigation Skills Programme. She is also a member of a number of groups including the New Zealand Bar Association, Criminal Bar Association, Auckland District Law Society Criminal Law Committee, Auckland Women’s Lawyers Association, and Auckland Medico-Legal Society.

The New QCs - Fewer of Them; New Criteria Too

Simon Foote

Simon Foote graduated with an LLB (Hons) in 1993 and a Diploma of International Commercial Arbitration in 2010. He is currently a PhD Candidate at Victoria University of Wellington. Mr Foote was admitted in 1993 and began working at Russell McVeagh as a litigation solicitor. He moved to London in 1997 where he worked as a solicitor in the international arbitration team at Clifford Chance. After a year, he returned to New Zealand, joining Ben Vanderkolk & Associates in Palmerston North where he worked as a Crown Prosecutor and civil litigation solicitor. In 2001, Mr Foote returned to Russell McVeagh, before moving to the bar a year later at City Chambers in Auckland.

He joined Bankside Chambers in 2008, and practises in commercial and civil litigation and arbitration, Crown panel work, and regulatory criminal defence matters. Mr Foote is a member of the New Zealand Law Society, a Council member of the New Zealand Bar Association, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand. He is a co-author of the New Zealand Bar Association’s 2018 Report on Access to Justice.

Janet McLean

Janet McLean graduated with an LLB (Hons) from Victoria University and an LLM from the University of Michigan. Early on in her legal career she served as a legal research officer at the New Zealand Law Commission and as a legislative drafter in Alberta, Canada.

Professor McLean has spent the majority of her career at the University of Auckland, teaching from 1991 to 1997, 1999 to 2006, and 2011 to the present day. She served as Professor of Law and Governance at the University of Dundee and has held visiting fellowships at Woodrow Wilson School of Politics and International Affairs, the Program in Law and Public Affairs at Princeton University (2009), the Australian National University (2001), and at Indiana University as the George P. Smith Distinguished Visiting Professor (2003). Professor McLean also taught for 2 years at Victoria University, serving as the Director of the New Zealand Institute of Public Law.

She is currently a Professor of Law and Associate Dean (Research) at the University of Auckland and a visiting Professor at the University of Melbourne where she teaches in their Masters programme. As a specialist in constitutional and administrative law, she is the author of a number of publications, including Searching for the State in British Legal Thought and This Realm of New Zealand: The Sovereign, The Governor-General, The Crown (co-authored with Dame Alison Quentin-Baxter). Professor McLean has also acted as an advisor for the New Zealand government, serving on the Legislation Advisory Committee and on a ministerial inquiry into Human Rights Protection in New Zealand (2000).

The New QCs - Fewer of Them; New Criteria Too

Nicolette Levy

Nicolette Levy graduated with an LLB (Hons) from Victoria University in 1990 and was admitted to the Bar that same year. She was employed as a law clerk at Bell Gully Buddle Weir in 1990, before becoming a staff solicitor working in litigation. In 1993 she moved to John Salmond Chambers where she was a pupil to Don Matheson QC for 18 months. Since 1994, she has worked as a barrister sole, specialising in civil litigation and criminal appeals to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

Ms Levy takes many civil cases on legal aid, and has appeared in more than 90 criminal appeals funded by legal aid. Ms Levy is a faculty member for Civil Litigation Skills and Expert Witness programmes. She is also a member of the New Zealand Bar Association Criminal subcommittee.

Karen Feint

Karen Feint graduated with a BA and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Otago and an LLM from the University of Toronto. She also holds a Diploma in Te Aupikitanga ki te Reo Kairangi from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Having been admitted in 1990, Ms Feint began her legal career as a solicitor at Bell Gully. After completing her LLM in 1994, she returned to New Zealand to work in the litigation department at Buddle Findlay.

She has been practising as a barrister at Thorndon Chambers since 2009, where she specialises in civil litigation, public and constitutional law, and Māori legal issues. Ms Feint has particular expertise in the Treaty of Waitangi and is the author of a number of publications on Māori jurisprudence. She is also a former co-convenor of the NZLS Women in Law Committee, and a current member of the Wellington Women Lawyers Association Committee and the New Zealand Bar Association’s Diversity Committee.

Leonard Andersen

Leonard Andersen graduated with an LLB (Hons) from the University of Otago in 1975 and was admitted that same year. His first legal role was as a teaching fellow in the Law Faculty at Otago University, before he moved to Whakatane in 1976 to join Osborne Handley Gray & Richardson as a staff solicitor. In 1979 he became a partner and was responsible for all litigation within the firm until his departure in 1990.

Since 1991, Mr Andersen has been a barrister sole practising in Dunedin. His practice is varied, ranging from civil and criminal litigation to Family Court cases, Employment Cases and Resource Management Act proceedings.

He is a part time lecturer at Otago University since 1992, teaching courses in advocacy, criminal procedure, and forensic law. He is the creator of both the first advocacy course to be taught in a New Zealand university and the only forensic law course to be taught in the country. Mr Andersen is the current President of the Criminal Bar Association of New Zealand and the chairman of one of the two NZLS Practice Approval Committees. He also serves on the faculty of NZLS Litigation Skills Programme and on the Southern Selection Committee responsible for granting approvals for legal aid.

The New QCs - Fewer of Them; New Criteria Too

Jonathan Temm

Jonathan Temm graduated with a BA and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1993 and was later admitted to the Bar that same year. He joined Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young as a law clerk and went on to work as a solicitor with a focus on litigation and property law. In 1995, he joined Davys Burton, Barristers and Solicitors in Rotorua as an associate, becoming a partner in 2000. Mr Temm moved to the bar in 2005, undertaking criminal defence work and civil litigation. In 2010 he became President of the New Zealand Law Society where he represented the national legal profession for 3 years.

In 2013, he returned to his private practice where he continues to specialise in criminal and civil litigation. Mr Temm has been significantly involved in his local community, undertaking a number of pro bono cases for Rotorua residents and serving on the Executive Board of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce for 8 years. He has also served several years on the NZ Council of Law Reporting and as the Director of the Litigation Skills Faculty. Mr Temm is a member of the New Zealand Bar Association and a Trustee of the NZ Law Foundation.

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