From the President – Kate Davenport QC

From the (Past) President Kate Davenport QC*

Kia ora Members of the Bar Association

This is my final column as the President of the New Zealand Bar Association. On 1 October Paul Radich QC became your new President, and I know he is looking forward to getting to know you all better. It has been my great privilege to be the President of the Bar Association for the last two years. It has been a lot of work, fascinating and frustrating, in equal measure. But mainly it has been the people I have met and worked with who have made it such a privilege. Thank you to all of you. I will miss you.

I had a look at the first President’s column that I wrote in October 2018. There I talked about the things that I hoped to achieve in my two years as President. The things that I wanted to focus on were:

1. Education, our working life at the Bar in the future and how we could embrace technology

2. Taking better care of ourselves.

3. Improving gender equity and diversity.

4. Access to justice.

It does seem a lifetime ago that I wrote those remarks, because in the last year we have grappled with enormous challenges as a society and a profession. We have made progress, but before I come to that, there were two unprecedented events that shaped much of my presidency, and they must both be acknowledged before I move on.

In November 2018 the new Silks were announced, but they were not called to the inner bar immediately. As a result of the timing of the announcement and ceremonies, we decided to hold the Silks dinners early in 2020. Our Christchurch and Dunedin silks, James Rapley QC, Anne Stevens QC and Anthony Wilding QC were looking forward to their dinner on 15 March 2019. That, as it turned out, was the date of the Mosques shootings.

I recall very clearly being at a lunch to celebrate the admission to the Bar of one of my daughter's best friends when news began to filter through that there had been a shooting in Christchurch. First 9, then 12, then 15 people were reported as having been shot. It wasn't until later that day that the full enormity of the horror of the Christchurch Mosques shootings became apparent.

We stayed in touch with Christchurch members and judiciary throughout that dark afternoon, monitoring their wellbeing and safety, although we knew that all we could do was offer our thoughts and care. It was a dark day indeed for New Zealand. There was absolutely no way that we could have held a dinner on such a day. I acknowledge the strength and courage of those in Christchurch, even when they felt they were at their weakest. Watching them come together as a community was inspiring for the rest of Aotearoa.

2020 hasn't really helped the NZBA achieve our objectives. Our Executive Director, Melissa Perkin, left at the end of January 2020, leave a gap for us all. At the time, Deb Hart (formerly of AMINZ and now a consultant) was undertaking a review of the the Association. Deb prepared an interim report for us, but the events that were to follow led us to put that work on hold, although the interim report has provided valuable insights for our Governance Workgroup and Council, to continue this work.

Our Training Director, Jacqui Thompson was offered the acting ED role in March 2020. Jacqui had a week to enjoy this role before the second of the unprecendented events that marked my presidency struck. The country moved into Level 4 lockdown. We were plunged into a great deal of activity and engagement with the Courts, the Judiciary and other members of the profession over the next month.

Communication and consultation were key in trying to find a new normal during this time. A professional bodies Covid 19 working group was established to consult on the measures needed to continue the courts essential work. Led by the Law Society, it included representatives from the Bar Association, the Criminal Bar Association, the Defence Lawyers Association, te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa, the Pacific Lawyers Association and the Auckland District Law Society.

During our first lockdown, I knew we had to ensure the wellbeing of our members as best we could. We responded to numerous emails asking us to intervene or make representations on behalf of our members. We had a series of virtual happy hour gatherings on wellbeing, how to use technology to make an online working life simpler, as well as other sessions designed to educate but also to be collegial. I felt that these were very successful. However, I have to say that staring at my face on Zoom, Teams or AVL, day in and day out, and for hours at a time, has led me to think longingly of a touch of plastic surgery!

Once again, our Silks dinners took a hit. We managed to hold our Wellington Dinner in July to honour Nicolette Levy QC and Karen Feint QC. Unfortunately, our Auckland event struck disaster. On Wednesday 12 August, we were to gather at the Hilton to celebrate with Simon Foote QC, Stephen Hunter QC, Julie-Anne Kincade QC, and Janet McLean QC. We also were conferring Life Membership on Stuart Grieve QC. However, Auckland began a Level 3 Lockdown at 12pm on that day.

So, 2020 has been a difficult year for everybody and my theme of taking better care of ourselves is crucial to all barristers. This has been echoed by members of the Australian Bar. One of the pleasures of this job has been to become the Bar Association's representative on the Council of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration, which made an excellent suggestion that when Covid is over, we should consider a retrospective seminar addressing the issue of the wellbeing of the Bar.

Prior to Covid, I was involved in the work led by the Chief Justice and Andrew Kibblewhite (the Secretary of Justice) which looked at improving access to justice. One of the issues identified was the need for a pro bono clearing house. I am very pleased that the Community Law Centres received additional funding recently to enable them to begin to run such a pro bono clearing house to match those who need pro bono work with those who are prepared to do it.

However, expecting the legal profession to meet the access to justice gap by the provision of free legal services is not the answer to the issues. A more comprehensive overhaul of the system is needed, especially in the District Court - the people's court - where the justice gap is most keenly felt. I will continue to work in this area with the Bar Association and the Ministry to see what changes can be made to improve access to the District Courts for people with civil litigation problems.

An area in which I do not think that I have succeeded in making the gains I wanted, is gender equity. In December 2017, the NZBA and the New Zealand Law Society launched the Gender Equitable Engagement and Briefing Policy. The Law Society took on the unenviable task of monitoring and measuring the implementation of the policy. We ran into some difficulties doing this, but I am pleased to say that these challenges are now being addressed and we will be reporting back to you in the near future.

We have made some progress in the area of diversity. I believe that we have formed closer relationships with the Pacific Lawyers Association and Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa. We will contine to learn and work in this space. Diversity is a huge issue for the legal profession. In order to represent our society, we need to be more representative of that society, and take steps to ensure that we are fostering and encouraging people of all backgrounds to become lawyers.

I would like to thank the Secretariat for their incredibly hard work, their dedication to the cause and the very long hours that they have put in for the NZBA. I encourage them to take a holiday when suggested! The Councils I have worked with have all been great and many have become friends. My thanks to you all for your hard work. The only fly in the ointment has been the Treasurer, who has kept a very tight hold on the purse strings. Absolutely needed, but oh the places I could have gone if he had been less vigilant!

I know that the Bar Assocation is very well served in the capable hands of Paul. I wish the Council well for the work they will do for you, the members of the Bar Association, in the future.

Ngā mihi nui

Kate