Appointment of Judge of the High Court

Auckland King’s Counsel Laura Anne O’Gorman has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today.

Justice O’Gorman graduated from the University of Auckland in 1996 with a BCom/LLB (Hons) and worked as a law clerk, then a solicitor, with Buddle Findlay until 1998. 

She relocated to the United Kingdom and obtained an LLM from the University of Cambridge in 1999, and worked at a law firm in Jersey (Channel Islands) for a year during 2000.

On her return to New Zealand in 2001, Justice O’Gorman returned to Buddle Findlay as a senior solicitor, subsequently becoming a senior associate.  She joined the partnership of Buddle Findlay in 2005.

In 2019 Justice O’Gorman became a barrister sole, joining Bankside Chambers in Auckland.  Her practice includes a broad range of commercial litigation, with specialist expertise in insolvency, competition law, judicial review and statutory appeals, conflict of laws, company law and contractual disputes.  She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2021.

Justice O’Gorman will take up her appointment on 23 October 2023.