In an era that’s increasingly hostile to facts and nuance in favour of power and profit – “the death rattle of misogyny”, as my sister calls it – it’s natural justice and those championing it that give me hope. So to sign off, here’s a shout-out to some of the legal trailblazers rising through the ranks and changing the system from the inside out.
From a five‑week Bahamian trial over Zoom to leading a hearing at 30 weeks pregnant, Georgia Angus has carved a fast path from Russell McVeagh to partner at women‑led boutique Morris in six years.
“I enjoy the unpredictability and pressure of litigation ... dealing with divorce, trust and estate disputes, it’s rewarding helping someone navigate one of the most stressful times in their life,” she says.
Court isn’t often the ideal outcome, but Angus isn’t a stranger to it, having worked on the $400 million Dawson-Damer trust dispute spanning the UK, Bahamas, and Bermuda during her tenure at US firm McDermott Will & Schulte in London.
With Morris nearing its 10th anniversary, Angus is proud to help shape a firm proving that litigation and leadership can look different.
Nicole Browne, senior solicitor at the Office of Human Rights Proceedings, also began at Russell McVeagh before specialising in human rights law, with cases ranging from homophobic hate speech in Hoban v Attorney‑General to disability rights in Deaf Action New Zealand v Television New Zealand.
Browne is now representing a transgender Corrections officer in what could potentially set a new workplace discrimination precedent.
“I feel a sense of purpose in helping others obtain positive outcomes or at least some clarity in a system that can be inaccessible and difficult to navigate,” she says.
Outside of work, Browne co‑edits the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal and sits on the board of the Waitematā Community Law Centre.
Max Harris, Rhodes Scholar, author and barrister, clerked for Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias before completing a Master’s and PhD at Oxford, where he published The New Zealand Project.
Now at Thorndon Chambers, he’s appeared in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Coroner’s Court and Waitangi Tribunal, among others. His recent work includes the Putua and Fitzgerald Bill of Rights cases, a challenge to corporate pharmacy, and representing the Islamic Women’s Council in the Christchurch terror attack inquiry.
Alongside legal work, the proud union member helped found JustSpeak, a criminal justice reform advocacy group, co-launched the Dental for All campaign, and advocates for stronger public legal infrastructure.
“I enjoy developing and driving arguments for clients, and finding creative ways to use the law to advance justice,” Harris says. “There’s a lot broken in the world. Law is one tool to tackle injustice.”
For Pipitea Chambers criminal barrister Julia Spelman (Ngāti Hikairo ki Kāwhia, Waikato), helping to found JustSpeak in 2011 was her response to “the rage and pain I felt learning the full extent of the deeply embedded racism in the justice system that contributes to Māori being prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned at disproportionate rates”.
With a penchant for holding power to account, Spelman contributed to Dame Margaret Bazley’s review into the law firm Russell McVeagh in 2018, assisted survivors in the Abuse in Care Royal Commission, and now acts for Lake Alice survivors as they navigate the Government’s new torture redress scheme.
Outside of chambers, she co‑convenes Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa’s criminal law committee, co‑chairs the Wellington and Hutt Valley Community Law Centre, and serves on the Defence Lawyers Assoc NZ’s executive. She’s also a mother of two young children, raising her tamariki (children) in learning te reo Māori. “I carry with me the challenge that Moana Jackson gave us as law students: ‘Are you a lawyer who happens to be Māori, or are you Māori and you happen to be a lawyer?’ I try to approach this work Māori first, lawyer second.”
Fellow Pipitea Chambers barrister Stephen Parry took the scenic route to the bar, having clerked for a chief District Court judge, campaigned with Professor Jane Kelsey against the TPPA, and worked across criminal, family and employment law in unions and community law centres.
Today, the long-time Aotearoa Legal Workers Union supporter and former board member defends clients facing sharp power imbalances, primarily in the Hutt Valley District Court.
This year, he successfully defended climate activists arrested for blocking roads in Wellington (all charges were dismissed) and this month appeared in the Supreme Court on a murder appeal with Christopher Stevenson, KC. Where to from here?
As a pigeon among eagles, it would be wrong to wax lyrical over my future plans or reminisce over former columns gone bad. Instead, I’ll leave you with Stephen Parry, who, like these incredible bastions of hope, put it best: “The importance of a case, for me, has little to do with the public interest that it generates. Behind every criminal charge and every employment dispute is a person whose life has been turned upside down.
“Criminal law in particular is a place where the inequalities in our society are laid bare, and I believe that being a robust and accessible advocate for defendants goes some way towards evening the scales, even if it is not a solution to the dynamics that drive inequality in the first place.”
Goodbye, so long, farewell, and thank you.
