In news this week, an NZ prosecutor was concussed after a phone was thrown in court from the public gallery. Mai Chen released her Diversity Stocktake and Dentons and Gadens finally announced their tie up following rumours the two had been in talks over a merger.
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NZ Law Society is pushing for a review into court security after a prosecutor was hit in the head with a mobile phone, resulting in a concussion.
“Any serious incident such as this must be followed with a comprehensive reassessment of security levels and measures,” said Law Society vice-president Mark Wilton, though the society said it isn’t blaming security staff for the incident.
Also over the ditch, Mai Chen, co-managing partner of Chen Palmer, launched her long-awaited
Diversity Stocktake assessing the impact of superdiversity on New Zealand’s law and public policy.
With more than 25 per cent of New Zealanders born overseas and a whopping 40 per cent of Aucklanders born somewhere other than New Zealand, the legal ramifications are significant.
“It’s not about race, it’s not just about equality and fairness, it’s a much bigger issue than that,” Chen said.
“It has significant impacts on our economy, on how business is done, on government and on law.”
Dentons finally announced a merger with Australian firm Gadens, following months of speculation. The merger (subject to a partner vote) will also include a tie-up to Singaporean firm Rodyk & Davidson.
The AFR estimated that the merger will increase Denton’s number of lawyers from 6600 to 7300 globally.
“Once the votes are in and tallied we would then work for the leadership of Gadens and Rodyk and focus on launching the combination in early 2016,” said global chief executive Elliot Portnoy.
