Practice Areas:

• Criminal Law

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Biography:

Francessca Maslin is contracted to provide research assistance to the Institute of Judicial Studies on the Bench Books platform. Francessca was previously employed as a Judges' Clerk to support the District Court Judges, namely the Judges in the Wellington, Blenheim and Nelson region. In this role, Francessca provided research and legal opinions on a wide variety of matters across the criminal, family and civil jurisdictions.

Francessca also writes for the LexisNexis publication Abbott & Thompson District Courts Practice (Criminal).

Practice Areas:

• Practice Compliance

Biography:

Maria Masterantoino has accumulated 35 years of experience in the New Zealand legal industry. Her expertise lies in business consulting to law firms, where she specialises in business and strategy, people and process, and development and wellness. Additionally, Maria holds the position of director at DigiMaster Limited, a pioneering virtual back-office solution for law firms in New Zealand.

Practice Areas:

• Family Dispute Resolution

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Nigel practised family law in the courts for some 30 years. He was lawyer for the child for 25 of those years. He was a Youth Advocate for almost 20 years.

Nowadays Nigel does not practise in the courts but focuses on alternative dispute resolution. Additionally he sits on a number of statutory tribunals.

Nigel trained as a mediator in 1983 and has been mediating family and other disputes since then. He has undertaken hundreds of mediations for the Family Court.

Nigel is the Convener of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. He sits on appeal, complaint and review bodies relating to mental health, censorship, retirement villages and real estate agents.

Practice Areas:

• Criminal Law

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After completing law and commerce degrees at the University of Otago, Mike commenced work for a small firm in Christchurch working in litigation, primarily in the areas of criminal and family law.

In November 2018, Mike joined Preston Russell Law's family and litigation teams and is now a Crown Counsel. Mike appears on Crown Prosecutions and on instructions from Government Departments.

Practice Areas:

• District Court Litigation

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Practice Areas:

• Intellectual Property

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Elena specialises in trade marks and acts for national and multinational brand owners to secure the protection of their brands in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific region.

Elena has over 20 years' experience in advising on all aspects of trade mark law and practice for businesses across a wide range of industries. Working with a international network of trusted like-minded attorneys, Elena assists local businesses protect their trade marks internationally.

Practice Areas:

• Criminal Law

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Craig worked for nearly three years in criminal defence in New Zealand, including general practice for two years thereof. He also worked in Queensland, Australia for the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in various prosecution roles for seven years, two of which he held the role of Crown Prosecutor (jury trials). Currently a partner at Dunedin law firm, RPB Law, Craig has also held the role of crown counsel for the last twelve years. His jury trials experience totals fourteen years including a number of trials involving alleged sexual offending.

Practice Areas:

• Criminal Law

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John Edgar has 17 years' experience as a defence lawyer. He has worked for a private law firm and as barrister sole and presently heads the Waitakere office of the Public Defence Service. He represents clients charged with a wide variety of charges and regularly conducts jury trials for serious offending.

From 2007 to 2009 he taught law, including criminal law and statutory interpretation, at the University of Auckland's Department of Commercial Law. In his present position he has practical experience as a mentor to junior and intermediate defence lawyers.

Practice Areas:

• Property Law

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Biography:

Andrew is a commercial property and development expert with particular emphasis on major projects, leasing and large scale developments. Andrew advises clients on acquisitions and divestments; property due diligence, leasing, large scale developments and subdivisions, joint venture development arrangements, public works and advising overseas companies investing in New Zealand property. Andrew is recongised as a leading real estate lawyer in the APL500 and Chambers Asia-Pacific legal directories.

Practice Areas:

• Employment Law

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Bronwyn is a Senior Associate at Simpson Grierson's employment law group, working out of Simpson Grierson's Wellington and Christchurch offices.

She has significant experience in all aspects of employment law with particular expertise in disciplinary and termination matters (including conducting investigations), change management processes, drafting employment agreements and policies, and health and safety.

Bronwyn regularly attends mediations and represents clients in the Employment Relations Authority, the Employment Court and District Court. Bronwyn acts for clients in the public and private sectors as well as Local Government.

Practice Areas:

• Family Law

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Debbie is a Partner with the Wellington based law firm Morrison Kent. Debbie is a family law specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience in the area. She has litigation experience in a range of areas, including family law, and has made regular appearances before the Family Court. Debbie is especially skilled at putting the law into clear, simple and understandable terms

Practice Areas:

• Succession Law

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Alison is the private client partner of Brookfields Lawyers. She provides specialist legal advice on estate planning, estate management, the establishment and management of trusts and related asset management structures, relationship property, elder law and trust and estate disputes.

Alison is the chair of the New Zealand branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, which is the principal professional body for trust and estate practitioners worldwide. She is also the secretary and a trustee of the Life Education Trust South East Auckland.

Practice Areas:

• Employment Law

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As a barrister Susan specialised in employment and public law investigations, inquiries and disputes. She began her legal career in 1978 and held the following positions: chief legal adviser with the Commerce Commission; specialist assessor (civil litigation) of the Legal Services Agency; chair of the Social Security Appeal Authority and of the Complaints Review Tribunal and member of the Employment Relations Authority.

Practice Areas:

• Family Law

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Shonagh is a Christchurch-based solicitor with Oranga Tamariki-Ministry for Children. Shonagh has worked as a litigator in private practice and for the public service. Shonagh has specialist expertise in family law and regularly represents Oranga Tamariki in Court. In addition to her litigation work, Shonagh provides training on the law, mentoring, legal advice and advocacy.

Practice Areas:

• Succession Law

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Biography:

Prajna specialises in commercial litigation and dispute resolution. He acts in a range of disputes for individuals, businesses of all sizes, institutional property owners, and public organisations including local authorities, universities among others.

Prajna has considerable experience with family and estate-related litigation, including acting in claims under the Family Protection Act and Testamentary Promises Act on behalf of claimants, respondent parties and executors, in both the Family Court and the High Court.

Practice Areas:

• Criminal Law

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Malcolm has worked at the Public Defence Service in Waitakere since 2012 covering all aspects of criminal defence work: summary, indictable, and appellate. For the two years before that he worked with a Provincial Government in the Solomon Islands through VSA. Prior to that he spent five years working for the Grey Lynn Neighbourhood Law Office, and before that was in private practice.

Practice Areas:

• Criminal Law
• Family Law

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Anna is an Associate with the Wellington based law firm Morrison Kent. Anna has been specializing in family law since 2012, she spent 2 years at a Wellington based law firm before moving to the Hutt Valley where she represented a large volume of legal aid client's for a period of 4 years. Anna joined Morrison Kent Wellington in January 2018 and was appointed to the Lawyer for Child list in February 2018.

Practice Areas:

• Criminal Law

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Cathie Sheat is a Wellington-based barrister practising mainly in the criminal Courts in Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt. Cathie has years of experience as a criminal defence lawyer. She has extensive experience as a legal writer and researcher. She has written for publications on areas including criminal law and legal services.