Sinclair appointed District Court Judge

Allison Anne Sinclair, Barrister and Solicitor of Auckland, has been appointed a District Court Judge.

---------------------------------

Allison Anne Sinclair, Barrister and Solicitor of Auckland, has been appointed a District Court Judge, Attorney-General Michael Cullen announced today.

Mrs Sinclair was admitted in 1977 and after two years with Earl Kent & Co as a staff solicitor moved to London where she was employed as a claims broker with C T Bowring & Co Ltd for two years. She was responsible for the management and broking in the London insurance market of liability claims brought against professionals and organizations in Australia and New Zealand.

Following her return from the United Kingdom in 1982 Mrs Sinclair joined Martelli McKegg Wells & Cormack as a staff solicitor until 1983 when she moved to Bowring Burgess Marsh & McLennan. In 1984 Mrs Sinclair returned to the practice of law joining Morpeth Gould. Mrs Sinclair was made a partner of what is now Morrison Kent in 1989. Her specialist areas of practice are commercial litigation, corporate and personal insolvency, and insurance litigation.

Mrs Sinclair is a trained mediator having completed the LEADR mediation workshop, the Harvard Law School Dispute Resolution Programme and the CDR Associates Programme on Advanced Mediation. She was co-convener of the ADLS Mediation Month initiative in 1998 and has been a member of the ADLS Courts Committee.

Mrs Sinclair was Chairperson of the Real Estate Agents Licensing Board for 12 years until 30 June 2007.

Mrs Sinclair will be sworn in on 19 December 2007 and will sit in Auckland.