- Hon Judith Collins KC
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of seven Family Court Associates.
The appointees will take up their roles between February and late March and will be based in Whangarei, Hamilton (two), Rotorua, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch.
Amanda Courtney
Ms Courtney is a Northland-based barrister and has worked as a sole practitioner in Whangarei, Napier, Wellington and, most recently, Rawene. She was previously a partner at Burnard Bull and Co in Gisborne, a senior supervising solicitor with the Public Defence Service and a District Inspector for Mental Health in Wellington and Northland.
Mānia Hope
Ms Hope is a Hamilton-based barrister and has operated her family law practice from Puna Chambers since 2009. She was previously a staff solicitor with Till Henderson in Hamilton and a District Inspector for Mental Health since 2017. In 2018 she was appointed as counsel for child.
Carlyle Gibson
Ms Gibson has been a partner at Cunningham Taylor Law in Christchurch since 2001 and was previously a staff solicitor at Kennedy Mee and Co in Ashburton. She has been a member of both the Canterbury Westland Family Law Committee and Standards Committee and the Canterbury Westland regional representative of the NZ Family Law Section.
Tracey Gunn
Ms Gunn has been a barrister sole working in Hamilton since 1999 specialising in all aspects of family law. Her early career was spent as staff solicitor with Hemara Weir Dawe and Rennie and as an associate solicitor with Harkness Henry and Co. She has been a member of the Lawyer for Child Review Panel, the regional representative of the NZ Family Law Section and appointed to manage Hague Convention cases by the NZ Central Authority.
Sandra Heney
Ms Heney is the present managing partner at Fletcher Vautier Moore in Nelson, having been with that firm since 2012. Her early legal career was spent in Auckland and Wellington, as well as a period in the UK, before returning to Nelson with Hunter Raife/Maze and Associates and as a self-employed family law specialist. She was a member of the Nelson Standards Committee and a former president of the Nelson Branch of the NZ Law Society.
Claire Mullord
Ms Mullord has been a barrister sole since 2006, based in Auckland until moving to Christchurch in 2022. She specialised in family law throughout that period, primarily acting as lawyer for child. She has also been an instructor at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies and was appointed as a member of the legal assistance panel to the Royal Inquiry into Historical Abuse in Care.
Lana Paul
Ms Paul is a Rangiora-based barrister sole who has specialised in youth advocacy, complex relationship property and estate claims. Her early legal career was with Williams and Co/Wynn Williams in Christchurch and she was appointed to the Mental Health Tribunal between 2002 and 2014
