Walker also led the prosecution during the 2021 trial for the notorious cold-case Red Fox Tavern murder, ending a 33-year-old mystery.
Walker is a graduate of the University of Auckland and graduated with a Master of Laws (Distinction) from the University College London. She also holds a Diploma of Māori Language Fluency from Te Wānanga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa.
Her legal career included spending six months as a junior barrister for the late John Haigh, QC, before joining the Auckland Crown Solicitor firm Meredith Connell and specialising in Crown prosecution work.
In 2014, Walker left the partnership at Meredith Connell to establish Kayes Fletcher Walker alongside two other directors, including her husband, Ned Fletcher.
She was appointed the Crown Solicitor at Manukau in 2015, the first appointment to that warrant.
At the time, she said it was “a really great time for South Auckland” because her appointment meant there would now be lawyers based in the community they were prosecuting.
“Not all of them will live in South Auckland – we don’t – but we’re conscious of the need to try to have a number of staff that do know the community,” she said.
“We are committed to bringing on, first and foremost, the best Māori and Pacific Island graduates from law school.”
Walker will take up her appointment on May 28 and will sit in Auckland, with her ceremony to be sworn in on June 4 at the High Court in Auckland.
New High Court associate judge Christopher Gambrill worked as a commercial litigator with law firms White Fox & Jones in Christchurch and Simpson Grierson in Auckland.
From 2005 to 2019, Gambrill was based in the United Arab Emirates, working with advocate and legal consultancy firms.
Gambrill takes up his appointment on March 30 and be sworn in on April 17 at the High Court in Christchurch.
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