They will begin sitting in Dunedin, Timaru, Auckland in July or October
Chris Bishop, attorney-general, has announced the appointments of the following new judges of the District Court: Maurice John Casey, Bryony Ann Millar, Tiffany Mary Cooper, and Erin Lee Woolley.
These four judicial appointees will sit in the following locations of the District Court of New Zealand and will be sworn in on the following dates:
The government’s news release provided more information about the four new judges.
Casey has over 25 years of experience in family law, including matters involving childcare, elderly care, relationship property, family protection, relocation, Hague Convention proceedings, mental health law, and elder welfare law.
He has been a barrister sole practising in the areas of family law and mediation since departing from the partnership at Carlie Dowling, a Napier law firm, in January 2024.
Casey has been a lawyer for child for more than a decade and has been an appointed lawyer to assist the court.
Millar’s practice has encompassed family, relationship property, youth advocate, and criminal matters.
She has been a member of the Children, Young Persons, and their Families/Oranga Tamariki, Blenheim Care and Protection Panel from 2008–20, and of the Crown Prosecution Panel from 2011–16.
Millar has been counsel for subject person since 2013, a lawyer for child since 2007, and a Blenheim-based barrister sole since 2007.
At the New Zealand Law Society, she was the first woman president of the Marlborough branch and was a Standards Committee member from 2017–20.
Based in Auckland, Cooper has primarily practised criminal defence work and focused on sexual assault cases. She has handled drug and homicide cases and conviction and sentence appeals.
She earned a designation as King’s Counsel in 2022 and admission to the independent bar in 2014. She served as a senior associate at Meredith Connell, which she joined in 2005.
Cooper has been a litigator since 2004. She worked at Hamilton Crown Solicitor Almao Douch. She commenced her career with a focus on commercial and civil law.
Woolley became a permanent coroner in November 2022 following her appointment as a relief coroner in October 2020. She has been a criminal prosecutor and an associate at Meredith Connell from 2013–20.
She has helped public and private sector entities navigate regulatory compliance issues. At a UK law firm, she advised large multinational companies on the regulatory aspects of their businesses.
