Hon Christopher Finlayson
Attorney-General
23 January 2014
Media Statement
High Court Judge appointed
District Court Judge Susan Elizabeth Thomas has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney-General Christopher
Finlayson announced today.
Justice Thomas graduated with a BA and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1982 and joined the Auckland firm
of Holden Horrocks as a solicitor.
The following year she travelled to London and was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales, working mainly in
private practice acting for a large development company undertaking major property developments, and also spending two
years as an in house counsel for Marks and Spencer PLC, then the largest and most profitable UK retailer.
On her return to New Zealand in 1995 Justice Thomas joined Minter Ellison Rudd Watts as a senior associate working
primarily in commercial property, construction and resource management. She was admitted to the partnership of that firm
the following year.
In 2005 she was appointed a District Court Judge. During her time as a Judge she has been involved in solution-focused
judging and in 2012 started a Special Circumstances Court in Wellington to focus on the most challenged and marginalised
offenders.
The new High Court Judge will sit in Auckland.
ends