More than 250 lawyers appointed across 18 specialist areas of legal practice
The Law Association of New Zealand has confirmed appointments to its committees for the 2026-2028 term, with more than 250 lawyers selected across 18 areas of legal practice to contribute to the organisation’s law reform, submissions and advocacy work.
The appointees come from private practice, in-house teams, academia and the regulatory sector. The two-year appointments place specialist practitioners across the Law Association’s committee programme, with members contributing alongside their regular legal practice.
A key development for the new term is the establishment of the banking, finance and securities law committee. The committee is new, with all 15 members joining for the first time.
Sean McAnally of 48 Shortland Barristers will serve as convenor. The committee includes practitioners from banks, investment firms, the financial regulator and the private bar, including representatives from the Financial Markets Authority, BNZ, Craigs Investment Partners and ASB.
The committee expands the Law Association’s specialist coverage across regulatory change, capital markets and commercial practice.
Law Association chief executive Clayton Kimpton said appointment to the committees carried professional standing and recognition.
“Our committees comprise some of the country’s most knowledgeable and respected legal practitioners, and appointment carries significant professional standing and recognition,” Kimpton said in a media release. “Their expertise and commitment are what make The Law Association’s work credible and valuable to the profession.”
Several established committees will also have new convenors. Law Association president Tony Herring will lead Documents and Precedents, while Joanna Pidgeon will convene Property Law and Helen Gilbert will lead Employment Law.
Joanna Beresford will head Environment and Natural Resources Law, Tim Clarke will convene Health and Safety Law, Shi Sheng Cai will lead Immigration and Refugee Law, and Edwin Lim will head Technology and Information Law. Amanda Hill and Phil Osborne will become co-convenors of the parole and prisoner rights law committee.
Continuing convenors include Gary Hughes for AML/CFT Law, with Claudia Shan as deputy convenor; Julie-Anne Kincade KC for Criminal Law; Alissa Bell and Stuart Cummings for Family Law; Professor Kate Diesfeld for Mental Health and Disability Law; Mingze Sun for NextGen Lawyers; Todd Whitcombe for Property Disputes; Law Association vice-president Samira Taghavi for Public and Administrative Law; Vicki Ammundsen for Trusts and Estates Law; and Jacqueline Lethbridge for Civil Litigation.
Head of legal services Daniel Conway said the organisation received significant interest in committee positions and highlighted the range of expertise among those selected.
Committee members contribute through submissions, interventions, law reform projects, CPD content and media engagement. Incoming members across all 18 committees will begin their appointments on October 1. A full list of committee appointments for 2026-2028 is available here.
