Waipā Māori Ward councillor Takena Stirling resigns following his interim suspension as a lawyer

Takena Stirling. Photo / WDC

Waipā Māori ward councillor Takena Stirling resigned yesterday following his suspension as a lawyer, on an interim basis, by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal of the New Zealand Law Society.

Waipā Mayor Susan O’Regan accepted his verbal resignation yesterday, later confirmed in writing, according to a written statement from the Waipā District Council. She said the resignation was effective immediately.

Stirling, a Te Awamutu-based lawyer, was elected as the district’s inaugural Māori ward councillor in October.

Stirling won’t be returning to the council, meaning it is likely that the council will hold a by-election.

Further details are going to be advised as soon as possible, the council says.

Stirling was born and raised in Kihikihi, studied law at Waikato University and previously worked as a commercial lawyer in Hamilton and in the King Country.

He opened his own law firm, Stirling Legal, in Te Awamutu in 2019, focusing on commercial and property law and asset protection.

The Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal suspension, announced yesterday, is effective from December 22, 2022.

The Standards Committee has laid two charges before the tribunal relating to the inappropriate use of trust funds and causing a loss to his bank.

The tribunal noted that the first charge was based on affidavit evidence that Stirling had deceived his bank or misappropriated funds advanced for a purported settlement by diverting funds for his own use.

The bank suffered a net loss of $85,000.

Charge two indicated that Stirling’s trust account dealings had been irregular for some time.

Stirling told the Law Society Inspectorate that he would repay the money to the banks, which led them to comment that he did not seem to appreciate that obtaining and using the advance for his own personal reasons was wrong and that he was a risk to the public and any bankers that he may engage.

Stirling is suspended from practice on an interim basis until the charges are disposed of.