Whangarei lawyer supports call to state ethnicity when renewing certificate

Whangarei lawyer Noela Fidow has no problem saying she is Samoan. Photo / John Stone

Whangarei lawyer Noela Fidow has no problem stating she is Samoan while renewing her practising certificate every year.

She is supporting a call by the New Zealand Law Society for lawyers to write down their ethnicity for statistical analysis and to provide training and resources in areas of law that lacked them.

At present, 44 per cent of the country's 12,800 lawyers have not stated their ethnicity while renewing their practising certificate as the practice has been voluntary.

The society could not say what percentage of Northland lawyers were included in that figure.

Ms Fidow said she was comfortable with lawyers writing down their ethnicity as long as it was voluntary.

"I think people who are hesitant to state their ethnicity aren't sure about what ethnic group they belong to. I have no problem saying where I come from and who I am," she said.

Ms Fidow migrated to New Zealand with her parents at the age of 12 in the early 1980s and settled in Auckland before moving to Northland eight years ago.

She did not speak English and recalled struggling with her identity even while in school.
The lawyer now manages Fidow Law in Whangarei and practises family law.

New Zealand Law Society spokesman Geoff Adlam said information on the ethnic make up of lawyers would add to other statistics such as the gender balance, areas of practice, number of lawyers in different areas, and earnings.

"The society is promoting unconscious bias by looking at how the legal profession is made up so we can provide training and resources to areas we thing needs.

"This year for the first time, 50 per cent of lawyers throughout New Zealand are women so the society can look at ways women can be promoted to hold leadership positions," he said.

Society vice-president for the North Island, Tiana Epati, said the best information available on lawyers' ethnicity was from the 2013 Census which identified 88 per cent of lawyers in the country as European, 7 per cent as Asian, 6 per cent as Maori and 2 per cent as Pacific people.

"At the same date, 77 per cent of all New Zealanders identified as European, 11 per cent as Maori, 11 per cent as Asian and 5 per cent as Pacific peoples- a noticeable difference."