Appointment of Associate Judge of the High Court

Attorney-General David Parker has announced today that Christchurch barrister Dale Lester has been appointed an Associate Judge of the High Court.

Associate Judge Lester graduated with an LLB (Hons) from Canterbury University in 1990 and started work as a staff solicitor at Christchurch law firm White Fox & Jones.   

During 1991 and 1992 he was a Judges’ Clerk to the Christchurch High Court Bench.  In 1994 he was employed as a litigation solicitor at Rhodes & Co, leaving the following year to join Saunders & Co in Christchurch, initially as a litigation solicitor and then an associate, before joining the partnership in 1998.  

In 2003 Associate Judge Lester left Saunders & Co to join the bar, subsequently co‑founding Canterbury Chambers in 2007. 

Associate Judge Lester’s main areas of practice have been contract, commercial, insolvency and estate litigation. He has extensive experience in disputes concerning property transactions and leases, and has also acted as a mediator and arbitrator.

He will sit in Christchurch.