ABOUT ME

I grew up in a variety of places: Ruatahuna, Otorohanga, Taranaki, and Hamilton; don't hold Hamilton against me it was just for High Schooling. 

I was a mother, wife, and then widow, all before I entered law school. My twenties were spent in Auckland (St Heliers and Kohimarama) as a stay-at-home Mother and as the much younger wife of John Matheson. John was a senior sports journalist, author, and sports producer who was well known in the sports and media community in the late 90s and 2000s. Shortly before John's death in 2014, I began to work with John on public relations projects for professional NZ athletes (rugby, boxing, and league) and major sporting events companies in Australia and New Zealand. John's teachings to me about media content, interview technique, and public relations has undoubtedly been a decisive factor in my ability to develop my own practice and private clientele so early in my legal career. 

My Father's family come from Samoa (my Father's Father's village was Lepa and his Mother's village was Salagi). My Father was a school principal for most of my childhood and later was a lecturer in education at Auckland University of Technology. He is now retired but still acts as a relief teacher for certain High Schools in Auckland. 

My Mother's family come from Taranaki and they have farmed in the region for over a century (Patea, Waverley, Huirangi near Waitara). My Mother was a stay at home mum for the first part of my childhood, then she worked in a cafe for a few years and then she owned cafes while I was at High School in Hamilton. At one point I think she owned 6 cafes in the Hamilton region. Nowadays she is retired and a lady of leisure travelling between New Zealand and Melbourne.

I have an older brother who lives in the Waikato - he works in education and has built 'a little bit of tuscany' into a lifestyle block in Waipa. I have a younger sister who lives in Melbourne and she heads the sales division of an American chemical company. And I'm a barrister in Auckland. 

I purposely designed my practice so that I could practice in a way that I could be myself and not have to be a corporatised or 'Victorian' version of a barrister. I worked in law firms for as little time as possible (that was always my goal) so I could get on the road to becoming a barrister and having control of my own work load, practice areas, profile, practice media, and work schedule. 

After spending the early part of my practice conducting general civil and insolvency litigation with the odd dalliance into criminal defence and family law, I decided in late 2022 that I will focus on specific practice areas: civil claims against Police and public bodies, criminal proceeds and financial crime, regulatory defences, firearms, trust litigation, and test/public interest litigation. While this is still a varied and challenging practice for me, it does allow me to drill down on the areas of law I have really enjoyed.

In my down time (which I have not had alot of in the past 3 years) I like to go walking, boating, fishing, golfing, eating, sleeping, and occasionally watching a movie or live show. As a result of a narrower practice focus in 2023, I also look forward to getting back to something called 'a gym'. 

It has certainly not been easy being widowed young and being left to raise our daughter Ava by myself. But, the funny thing about life and what happens to you is that if you keep at it, and try and absorb some of the lessons along the way, those experiences can be used to help advise and guide others, particularly in their times of great stress and trial. Perhaps you are going through pain, confusion, and trials (literally) at the moment? 

I enjoy litigation and I love a good challenge. I love getting my clients good results and achieving things that have not been done before in New Zealand courts (why not?). As a testament, I think, to my practice results and practice style, the majority of my clients remain in contact with me long after their litigation has finished, no longer as clients, but as life long friends. 

I look forward to making many more new friends in 2023.