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its broader environment, including some 22,000km of tributaries which fork off the main water-source.
Bringing legal skills home Vast amounts of trust and settlement work led Ms Paul to refresh her legal education. In 2017 she once again visited Victoria University to brush up her legal repertoire, also necessary for prospective lawyers who hold dated LLBs. “I was fascinated with ethics, it wasn’t a subject when I was studying,” says Ms Paul, who’s initial LLB especially focused on international and environmental law. She’s now ready to tackle the key obstacles facing the justice system in her home town. “The Rotorua courts are stretched. Around 8,000 cases were processed last year, and of 150 lawyers in the area, just 15 are barristers and only one Queen’s Counsel. There needs to be more lawyers in the area available to take up the work. “While iwi governance is gearing up to grow the wealth of the tribe, the most vulnerable members of those same communities are turning up in the courts and are over-represented in our prison populations. We need to fix both ends of the communities.” Utilising her legal experience bore one question Ms Paul asked herself: “How can I be useful to the Rotorua community?” “As a Chair of a trust I have enough experience as a legal client to know the emphasis on fees and the billable hour does not aid the prohibitive nature of the civil courts, and issues of accessibility at the bar.” The case-lawyer imbalance doesn’t help the justice system at the grassroots level. Critical areas of attention are in the criminal, civil and trust, family, Māori land and ACC advocacy legal areas, Ms Paul says. “I want to help my community by working hands-on in these areas at the Bar.”
An advocate for the regions During her professional legal studies, Ms Paul noticed a theme that threatens to exacerbate the regional gap between high caseloads in the court and low lawyer numbers. “One of our course tutors had run a practice in Hāwera. She asked who was thinking about going to practise in the regions. I was the only one who put my hand up. There’s an undeniable attraction about cities, but there is so much work here in the regions.” Younger prospective lawyers entering the profession are more likely to stay in New Zealand cities. Ms Paul knows all too well the glamorous picture painted by popular culture. “There’s always going to be attractive influences. In my time it was US television series like L.A. Law and Boston Legal. Now it’s shows like Suits, and you see the city make its mark with 28
▴ Formerly practising in Ohope, Judge Rachel Paul was sworn in on 17 February. She joins her brother and Katie’s cousin, Judge Eddie Paul at the District Court bench.
an equivalent silk rate. There isn’t enough appealing role modelling in regional New Zealand.” She raises the juxtaposition of opportunities New Zealand cities offer for legal practitioners, which means the regions consistently face access to justice to issues. “I’m lucky to be entering the profession at this stage of my life. I’m experienced and settled, money isn’t the key driver. Although the course of the justice system’s cover of New Zealand geography is gradually adjusting to recognise its deficits, she adds. “One of the 21 District Court judges just announced was Rachel Paul, my first cousin, who was also moving counsel for my swearing in.”
In the right company Relatively few lawyers acknowledge the opportunity to return to study, but possibly less grasp that opportunity with the tenacity Katie did, despite her age. She is now 50.