Hamilton lawyer appointed District Court Judge
Hamilton lawyer Melanie Harland has been appointed a District Court Judge, Attorney-General Michael Cullen announced today.
Ms Harland was admitted in 1985. From 1985 to 1988 she was a Solicitor with Meredith Connell, appearing in a variety of jurisdictions with focus on the District Court, both in its summary and jury jurisdiction, and also in the High Court on a variety of appeals and in the civil jurisdiction.
From 1988 to the present she has been with McCaw Lewis Chapman, Hamilton where she has been a partner since 1991. She has experience in civil litigation and has been involved in criminal work from a defence perspective. She has conducted jury trials in both the District and High Courts.
In the early 1990s Ms Harland developed an interest in Family Law. She has appeared as a lawyer for the child, counsel to assist and counsel for the subject person in cases involving disability. She has also been a Youth Advocate for some six years. She developed her area of practice in Resource Management.
In 1995 she travelled to Switzerland for six weeks on a Rotary Group Study Exchange Scholarship when she spent time observing and talking to members of the criminal justice system working in a tri-lingual society and was able to compare the Swiss environmental laws with New Zealand's Resource Management Act.
Ms Harland has been actively involved with the District Law Society, being a member of various sub-committees and on the Faculty of the NZLS Civil Litigation Skills programme. For the past 10 years she has been an appointed Trustee of the Waikato Foundation Trust, which administers a fund for regional environmental projects and was chairperson of the Waikato Montessori Charitable Trust.
Ms Harland will be sworn in on 28 May 2007 and will sit in Hamilton.
Ms Harland was admitted in 1985. From 1985 to 1988 she was a Solicitor with Meredith Connell, appearing in a variety of jurisdictions with focus on the District Court, both in its summary and jury jurisdiction, and also in the High Court on a variety of appeals and in the civil jurisdiction.
From 1988 to the present she has been with McCaw Lewis Chapman, Hamilton where she has been a partner since 1991. She has experience in civil litigation and has been involved in criminal work from a defence perspective. She has conducted jury trials in both the District and High Courts.
In the early 1990s Ms Harland developed an interest in Family Law. She has appeared as a lawyer for the child, counsel to assist and counsel for the subject person in cases involving disability. She has also been a Youth Advocate for some six years. She developed her area of practice in Resource Management.
In 1995 she travelled to Switzerland for six weeks on a Rotary Group Study Exchange Scholarship when she spent time observing and talking to members of the criminal justice system working in a tri-lingual society and was able to compare the Swiss environmental laws with New Zealand's Resource Management Act.
Ms Harland has been actively involved with the District Law Society, being a member of various sub-committees and on the Faculty of the NZLS Civil Litigation Skills programme. For the past 10 years she has been an appointed Trustee of the Waikato Foundation Trust, which administers a fund for regional environmental projects and was chairperson of the Waikato Montessori Charitable Trust.
Ms Harland will be sworn in on 28 May 2007 and will sit in Hamilton.