President: Anoushka Bloem | Vice-President: Karlene O’Halloran
The focus of 2023 was celebrating diversity and culture. In particular, celebrating all of the different cultures and diversity represented by women in law to ensure that the legal community is one which embraces differences and where all women can feel part of a community that is supportive of our unique identities, culture and heritage.
Her Honour Justice Tahana spoke at the President’s function in March.
AWLA provided commentary published by Stuff regarding the Auckland University Law Student Society recruitment event that included only Pākehā males. AWLA sought to draw awareness to its concerns regarding the panel selection and to highlight the need for future events of a similar nature to include a diverse range of lawyers.
In May, in collaboration with the NZ Bar Association, AWLA ran an informative panel event for women interested in joining the bar.
AWLA and the NZ Association of Women Judges hosted a presentation by Judge Gertner from the USA in August. Judge Gertner spoke about the judiciary in the USA and provided thought provoking reflections on the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation decision.
To fundraise for the New Law Student Scholarship, AWLA hosted a Cultural Extravaganza evening in September. The guest speaker was Mai Chen. Attendees enjoyed a colourful and festive event with performers and dancers from different cultures.
AWLA collated and published data on the partnership statistics of medium to large law firms. This research was an interesting and valuable resource, providing one metric for helping to understand the progression of women in law firms
In the lead up to the October election, AWLA hosted a political panel event with representatives from all of the major political parties.
The guest speaker of the annual Dame Silvia Cartwright lecture was Professor Valmaine Toki who spoke about indigenous rights, human rights, and the UN.
AWLA wrote an open letter to the New Zealand Law Society to raise concerns about the findings of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal in its decision regarding Auckland lawyer Murray Tingey. AWLA was of the position that inadequate weight was given to the inequitable relationship dynamics and vulnerability women face. AWLA criticised the penalty and suppression orders imposed as being inadequate and unsatisfactory.
