They are assigned to Napier, Manukau, Kaikohe, respectively
Judith Collins, attorney-general, has announced the appointments of Rohan Cochrane, Lynn Hughes, and Derek Whitehead as three new judges of the District Court of New Zealand.
In a news release, the government noted that Cochrane, Hughes, and Whitehead have accepted assignments to the District Courts in Napier, Manukau, and Kaikohe, respectively.
The District Court will swear in the new additions on the following dates:
The government’s news release provided more information regarding the professional experience of the recently announced appointees.
Since 2010, Cochrane has served as a director of the law firm Family Law Specialists Ltd in Porirua, Wellington. He was a partner of the Catriona Doyle and Rohan Cochrane Law Office.
He has handled cases under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. He has been a lawyer for the child, lawyer for the subject person, and lawyer to assist the court.
Cochrane has belonged to the Legal Services Advisory Board since 2015. He served as a convenor and member of the New Zealand Law Society’s standards committees in the Wellington and central regions.
He earned admission to the bar in 1999.
Hughes has focused on criminal law as a barrister practising out of Sentinel Chambers in Auckland.
She began working at the Public Defence Service in Manukau in 2004, where she became a public defender and headed the Manukau office’s operations until 2021.
Hughes has served as a litigation solicitor in New Plymouth and as research counsel at the District Court in Wellington.
Her organisation involvement has spanned The Law Association and the New Zealand Law Society’s standards and criminal law committees.
Hughes has co-chaired the legal aid performance review committee since 2023 and has belonged to the legal aid provider selection committee since 2022.
She has served as a faculty member of the law society’s litigation skills program and of the inaugural Pacific litigation skills program.
Hughes gained admission to the bar in 1999.
Based in Whangarei since 2001, Whitehead has run his own practice focusing on all family law aspects. Since 2002, he has been a youth advocate, frequently appearing in Cross Over Court and Koti Tai Tamariki.
He has been a senior lawyer for children, lawyer to assist, and lawyer for the subject person. He has recently belonged to the appointment and review panels for those roles.
Whitehead worked at Henderson Reeves in Whangarei and at Le Pine & Co in Taupo for a few years, where he led the family law team. He began practising at Allen Needham & Co in Morrinsville.
He has belonged to the Te Hau Awhiowhio Otangarei Trust Board since 2005, which offers social services to Māori communities in Te Tai Tokerau.
Whitehead obtained admission to the bar in 1995.
