Judge of the Court of Appeal appointed

Justice Patricia Courtney has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, Attorney-General David Parker announced today.  

Justice Courtney graduated with an LLB from the University of Auckland in 1982 and spent some time as an investigation officer with the Department of Trade and Industry before joining the firm of Heaney Jones and Mason as a staff solicitor in 1983.  

In 1986 Justice Courtney took up a role with McElroy Milne, becoming a partner in 1989.  In 1992 Justice Courtney was one of the founding partners in the firm of McElroys, specialising in insurance law with particular expertise in professional negligence cases.  She became the senior partner of McElroys in 1998. 

Justice Courtney was appointed a Judge of the High Court in 2004. 

The vacancy on the Court of Appeal was created by the appointment of Helen Winkelmann as chief justice and to the Supreme Court.