Lawyer bodies applaud Court of Appeal’s plan to boost junior counsel

The New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) and the New Zealand Bar Association (NZBA) have praised the New Zealand Court of Appeal’s plan to give more chances to junior counsel to gain experience.

Court President Justice Stephen Kós has announced in a practice note that the court is supporting the “Gender Equitable Engagement and Instruction Policy.”

“It reflects an appreciation that junior counsel will have made substantial contribution to the written argument, and will best develop as advocates by advancing part of the oral argument,” the note said.

The practice note said that the court:

• encourages oral argument by junior counsel – unless the brevity of the appeal or nature of the argument does not justify both counsel addressing the court, or junior counsel waives that opportunity;
• does not require adherence to the previous practice that each counsel is heard only once in the principal argument – meaning that junior counsel may now take an intermediate point in that argument; and
• will not normally hear two counsel in reply for one party – except by leave in very complex appeals.

“This is a wonderful initiative from the Court of Appeal. One of the difficulties for junior litigators is the lack of opportunity to appear in our appellate courts, so the encouragement from the Court of Appeal to hear oral argument by junior counsel is applauded,” said Chris Moore, who chairs the NZLS Women’s Advisory Panel.

Kate Davenport QC and Jim Farmer QC, co-chairs of the NZBA Gender Equity Committee, said that it is widely known that a disproportionate number of senior counsel appearing in the higher courts are male.

“Creating more opportunities for junior counsel to have a speaking role in hearings will therefore enable more women to gain the skills and experience needed to progress to senior counsel roles, and will equally create more opportunities for male juniors, creating a wider and deeper pool of talented advocates. This can only be a good thing for our profession,” they said.

The NZBA’s committee congratulated the court on adopting the “excellent initiative,” which complements the NZLS’ and the NZBA’s joint “Gender Equitable Engagement and Instruction Policy.”

In December, the NZLS and the NZBA launched the policy with strong support from the industry. The policy aims to have at least 30% of all court proceedings, arbitral proceedings, and major regulatory investigations led by women lawyers, who have the relevant expertise, by 1 December this year.

Russell McVeagh, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Buddle Findlay, Shortland Chambers, Crown Law Office, Bell Gully, Chapman Tripp, Simpson Grierson, DLA Piper New Zealand, Anderson Lloyd, and Kensington Swan have also adopted the policy.

Clients that have committed to the policy include Westpac, Spark, Fonterra, Countdown, Stuff, Watercare, Meridian, Lion, Samsung, Auckland Airport, Chorus, ANZ, and Contact.

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