Family Court and District Court judges appointed

Attorney-General Margaret Wilson today announced the appointment of a Family Court Judge and three District Court Judges.

Jan Walker of Rotorua has been appointed as a Family Court Judge to replace Judge Bernard Kendall of Auckland, who is to retire in January 2005.

Ms Walker has been in partnership with Claudia Elliot since 1989 after three years in sole practice. She has had extensive family law experience but has also been involved in a variety of other work. Her career has mostly been in private practice but includes seven years as District Solicitor for the Department of Maori Affairs. She was a Disputes Tribunal Referee from 1987 98, served on the Rotorua Legal Aid Committee and the Legal Aid Review Authority and was appointed to the Legal Aid Review Panel in 2000. She is a former President of the Rotorua Law Association. She served as a Rotorua District Councillor for one term and has held a number of leadership or governance roles and directorships. Ms Walker will be sworn in on 27 January.

The new District Court Judges are Denys Barry of Gisborne, Thomas Ingram of Hamilton and Lisa Tremewan of Auckland. Mr Barry has been appointed to replace Judge Barry Lovegrove of Wellington, who is to retire from the District Court bench in February 2005. Mr Ingram and Ms Tremewan have been appointed to new District Court Judge positions. Mr Ingram will sit in Tauranga and Ms Tremewan will sit in the Waitakere Court.

Mr Barry has been a partner at Woodward Chrisp since 1985. He joined the firm in 1981, and was seconded to the commercial and conveyancing team from 1985 to 1990. He was appointed Crown Solicitor for Gisborne in 1995 and that work has occupied most of his time since then. He is the current president of the Gisborne District Law Society. Mr Barry will be sworn in on 12 January.

Mr Ingram has practiced as a barrister sole in Hamilton since 1980. His experience has been in civil and criminal litigation, and he is a member of the Hamilton Crown Prosecutors Panel. He has extensive experience in mediations and arbitrations in civil disputes as mediator, arbitrator, umpire or counsel and he served as a Tenancy Adjudicator from 1986-98. Other roles he has held include part time litigation instructor for the Institute of Professional Legal Studies from 1999, and contributing author to Butterworths' Transport Law. Mr Ingram will be sworn in on 11 January.

Ms Tremewan has held a full-time appointment on the Refugee Status Appeals Authority since 1999 and is a senior member of the authority. She was first appointed to the Authority in 1995. She has also been a member of the Removals Review Authority since 2000, and from 1998-2003 served on the Residence Appeal Authority. She served as a Tenancy Adjudicator from 1990-2000. Ms Tremewan practised in litigation between 1986-99 in the South Auckland courts. She holds the degrees of BA/LLB (Hons) and M.Jur (Dist.). She has had considerable involvement with various community organisations, and has been the organiser of World Vision's ‘Lawyers for the Famine’. Ms Tremewan will be sworn in on 10 January.