Hon Dr Michael Cullen

Attorney-General

16 May 2007 Media Statement

Appointment of Queen's Counsel

Attorney-General, Michael Cullen, announced today the appointments of John Marshall, Bruce Corkill, Matthew Casey, Stephen Mills, Stephen Kós, Robert Lithgow, Deborah Hollings, Christopher Gudsell, Nicholas Till, Susan Hughes, Campbell McLachlan, and Karen Clark as Queen’s Counsel.

John Marshall is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington. He was litigation partner at the law firm Buddle Findlay (formerly Buddle Anderson Kent & Co) for some 22 years before joining the independent bar in 1998. Mr Marshall has a general litigation practice and also acts as an arbitrator and mediator. He is the current Treasurer and President-elect of the New Zealand Law Society.

Bruce Corkill graduated from Otago University joining the Lower Hutt firm of Agar Keesing McLeod & Co before and working traveling overseas for some years. He joined the independent bar in 1997 and specialises in the areas of personal injury, employment and family law. Mr Corkill is Chair of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.

Matthew Casey graduated from the University of Auckland and practiced with the law firm Kensington Swan for 27 years, 23 of them as a partner. He moved to the independent bar in 2002. Mr Casey specialises in civil and commercial litigation, public law, resource management and local government law. He has been the principal author of Sims Court Practice since 1993.

Stephen Mills graduated LLB from Auckland University and LLM from the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the law firm of Russell McVeagh before spending some time in the academic world in both New Zealand and overseas. Mr Mills joined the independent bar in 2002. His areas of expertise include media and defamation law, commercial litigation and public law. Mr Mills is the author and co-author of a number of legal texts.

Stephen Kós graduated from Victoria University of Wellington before going on to Cambridge and graduating with an LLM. He initially joined the firm of Perry Castle before joining Russell McVeagh. Mr Kós specialises in commercial and regulatory litigation, environment law, equity and restitution, higher education and the Laws of Fiji. He is an honorary lecturer in civil procedure at Victoria University and is the author and co-author of various legal publications.

Robert Lithgow is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington. He has practiced as a barrister since 1985 with a brief interruption as Crown Counsel between 1994 and 1997, holding the warrant as Crown Solicitor for Blenheim for two years. Mr Lithgow specialises in criminal law. He has for some 20 years been faculty for the New Zealand Law Society Litigation Skills course and has contributed to the Litigation Skills courses for provided for Pacific Island Countries.

Deborah Hollings graduated from the University of Auckland initially joining the Auckland law firm of Butler White and Hanna. After a period working overseas Ms Hollings joined Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet & Co, moving to the independent bar in 1989. Ms Hollings has specialised in relationship and partnership property law, family trusts, medico-legal law, the Resource Management Act and criminal prosecutions. She is the author of For Richer For Poorer, a handbook on domestic property law and estate law. Ms Hollings is a member of the Auckland Crown prosecution panel and sometime New Zealand Listener columnist.

Christopher Gudsell is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington. He practiced in both the government and private sectors before joining the independent bar in 1995. Mr Gudsell’s areas of expertise include civil, criminal and commercial litigation. Mr Gudsell is a member of the Hamilton Crown prosecution panel and is currently the Vice President of the New Zealand Bar Association. Mr Gudsell lives and practices in Hamilton.

Nicholas Till gained his legal qualifications in England. After moving to New Zealand he initially joined the firm of Lane Neave Ronaldson before joining Hunter Donaldson becoming a partner in that firm. He joined the independent bar in 1991. Mr Till has a civil litigation practice with particular emphasis in the areas of contract, tort and fair trading law, commercial litigation, insurance and professional disciplinary law. He is a member of the Serious Fraud Office Prosecution Panel. Mr Till lives and practices in Christchurch.

Susan Hughes is a graduate of the University of Auckland. She was a partner for 18 years of the law firm Govett Quilliam before joining the independent bar in 2006. Ms Hughes specialises in criminal and civil law. She has been actively involved in legal education and is a trustee of a number of community Trusts Boards in Taranaki where she lives.

Dr Campbell McLauchlan is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and the University of London. He has expertise in public international law, international commercial litigation and arbitration and conflict of laws. Dr McLachlan is a Professor of Law at Victoria University and author of various legal texts.

Karen Clark graduated from the University of Wellington working first as a Judge’s Clerk. She joined the Crown Law Office in 1986 and was appointed Deputy Solicitor-General (Public Law) in 2002. She represented the Solicitor-General on the Rules Committee for some years. Ms Clark has expertise in the areas of constitutional and public law and practices in Wellington.

ENDS

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