Helen Wild and David Caldwell also joined the High Court and the Environment Court
Associate High Court judge Owen Paulsen has been appointed a High Court judge in Christchurch.
According to attorney-general Judith Collins, Paulsen takes on his new role on 15 November. The former lord chief justice of the Kingdom of Tonga was named an associate High Court judge in 2019.
Paulsen launched his legal career at Harman & Co, where he made partner in 1991. He served on the Employment Tribunal as an adjudication and mediation member from 2000 to 2001 while a sole litigation practitioner.
He joined Cavell Leitch as a partner in 2001 and remained with the firm until 2014. He began leading the Tongan judiciary in 2015 as lord chief justice; he was also president of the Court of Appeal and the Land Court there.
Paulsen advised His Majesty King Tupou VI on land cases before the Privy Council. The King of Tonga made Paulsen a member of The Most Devoted Royal Household Order of Tonga.
Meanwhile, Helen Wild joins the High Court as an associate judge in Auckland. Her tenure begins on 16 February 2026.
She started her legal career with Simpson Grierson before moving to an in-house role as legal counsel at the Auckland District Health Board. She joined Chapman Tripp as a principal in 2002 and then rejoined Simpson Grierson as a special counsel.
In 2007, Wild became Television New Zealand’s senior counsel. She took on a director role with Anderson Creagh Lai in 2015.
Most recently, she was with the Auckland Council, where she was initially litigation and dispute resolution manager before being appointed the legal team head and the council’s principal legal advisor.
David Caldwell will be sworn in as an Environment Court judge in Wellington on 15 December. He was a part of Bridgeside Chambers.
As a litigator and mediator, he focuses on employment and resource management law. He served as an independent commissioner on consent and plan change applications for territorial and regional councils.
Caldwell was previously a partner at Lane Neave and Tavendale and Partners in Christchurch.
