7 minute read
Jonathan Temm QC
16 June 1962 - 3 March 2021
The profession and the Bar lost one of its giants with the passing of Jonathan Temm QC. Members of the profession, and his PA for the last 25 years, Barbara Neale, share some memories with us.
You cannot go wrong working for a barrister whose chambers, as luck would have it, are located across the road from an Irish bar. Barbara Neale certainly discovered that after years of working with Jonathan Temm QC. It was a job that she would find endlessly fascinating.
Jonathan passed away on 3 March 2021 at his home, surrounded by his whānau. While his death came much too soon, it was fitting that at the end he was with the people who mattered the most to him. His wife, Lynelle, 1 in a recent interview, described him as having a great ability to be present as a husband and a father. His family provided the balance he needed when faced by the relentless nature of trials, often involving tragedy, and on occasion, simply horrific.
But before we get to his professional attributes, here are some things that you may not know about Jonathan:
Back in the day when nearly everyone smoked, he had a talent for rolling cigarettes one handed (learned while driving removal trucks around Australia). “In a way, that sums him up pretty well. He needed to find a way to make things happen and so he just worked at it until he found a result that worked.” He gave up smoking many years ago and the last time he was asked to demonstrate that talent, it was a complete but hilarious disaster.
Jonathan was offered QC rank at the end of his term as NZLS President. He declined it at that time, saying instead that he wanted to see more of his provincial colleagues being recognised for their efforts. There was a bit of incredulity in the office over that stance, but once he explained his reasoning, it was hard to argue against.
He was known to practice his closing addresses on the local trout, according to Lynelle. Some of them must have been persuaded as Jonathan usually returned home with two or three fish.
He was innately kind. His father, Hon. Justice Paul Temm (also a QC), had told him it gets very lonely on circuit and restaurant food loses its appeal pretty quickly. Jonathan Temm would therefore invite visiting judges home for dinner, where they would experience the Temm household. “It was a joy to be a part of,” says Barbara, “sitting quietly at the table as a constant stream of humanity and casually tossed barbs fly between children and parents with obvious humour and love. It was like being at a train station with people coming and going. You just sat back and enjoyed being part of the atmosphere. No five-star meal could ever compare.”
He was a practical joker, and once fitted all of someone’s office into the elevator (apparently his packing skills were legendary).
Of course, some details are much more well known. Jonathan was a man who spoke truth to power. A partner at a firm he worked for frequently dressed down his secretary publicly. One day, Jonathan walked into the partner's office, closed the door, and spoke his piece. Whatever that piece was, the dressing downs ceased. 2
People have observed that Jonathan hated injustice, but it is probably as true to say he had a passion for justice. District Court Judge Marie Mackenzie said “He was passionate about advocacy, the law and doing justice for all in the community, including the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Mr Temm QC always strived to achieve justice for all. He advanced cases in a firm but fair way.”
Persistence was another strength – as demonstrated by relentless applications for Law School, NZLS/WBOP President or (for that matter), applications for QC, he persisted. From the outside, it might look like an inherited and charmed legal family life, but the reality was an uncompromising will to succeed.
In among that hard work was the requisite humour needed to deal with prosecution and criminal defence. Sometimes this resulted in a need to break out and practice his golf swing at the end of the open-plan office space, the little practice ball floating up into the sky and landing on a secretary’s desk. “He was also known for stealthy rubber-band fights,” Barbara recalls, “his head popping up over partitions to quickly fire off a shot, before scuttling away. And using his Court voice on unsuspecting staff from other areas of the law firm, which would usually cause them some alarm.”
Of course, given the serious trials in which Jonathan appeared, it was certainly a long way from being fun all the time. “We had death threats during some of the worst trials. You knew it was pointless to respond, even if you could. They all came from ‘non-traceable’ sources because that is the nature of those sorts of things - brave in anonymity,” Barbara remembers. “The real bravery is standing up in Court, ensuring that the justice system functioned as it should. People underestimate the toll that takes, appearing in the face of sometimes overwhelming public resentment.”
With all of the pressure and insanity that comes to those at the defence bar, Jonathan had to learn to step away. He would retreat to nearby beaches, into the forests surrounding Rotorua (a city he loved since moving there with Lynelle in 1995) or, in later years, he would disappear down to his boat in Taupo.
In 2019, after several applications, Jonathan’s excellence was recognised with the conferment of QC status. He rang Barbara while she was on holiday in Thailand and they both shed a tear; “He was feeling close to his father and I was feeling proud that he was finally being recognised. He had worked so hard for that for so many years.”
The respect with which Jonathan was regarded throughout the profession was evident when he was called to the inner bar. Members of the profession, friends and associates travelled to Rotorua for the ceremony from all over the country, so many that a second courtroom was needed to accommodate them, with a video connection between them. Bar Association President, Paul Radich QC, describes the ceremony, “It was a truly moving event, punctuated with mihi and waiata. Jonathan was ill at the time and most people did not get to speak to him but the warmth and good will in the room was palpable. Jonathan wanted people to have an event to go to afterwards, even though he could not attend himself, and so a function was organised at the Pig & Whistle (a venue associated with many practitioners at the Rotorua court) at which scores of lawyers and friends celebrated and recounted his achievements.”
At the ceremony, the Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann noted that Jonathan had told her that his call reflected the strength of the local bar and promptly went on to suggest others who he felt were deserving of the rank! It reflects how much he thought about those around him. Dame Helen said that the rank of Queen’s Counsel is reserved for the strong, the upright, the learned and the brave, and the checklist of qualities for a Queen’s Counsel could have been written for Jonathan as a description of him as a lawyer.
The Chief Justice also identified certain beliefs or values that were part of Jonathan’s structure and life. They were, she said, part of his DNA. Since his early days as a practitioner, his behaviour was consistent with these values, demonstrating that this was not a matter of building a CV:
1. He had a passionate commitment to justice and his clients knew that they had the best advocate for their cause. He took on cases and gave them his all.
2. He was undoubtedly learned in the law and had been sought out for his ability to teach and mentor those who were coming through the profession.
3. Service to his profession was demonstrated by his support over the years for the Law Society including his presidency from 2010 to 2013. His leadership was brave, and he was thoughtful and articulate. He literally spoke truth to power including advocating for legal aid and representation in the Family Court.
4. His commitment to access to justice saw him acting often for the poor and the disadvantaged. He did more than his share of heavy lifting in this area. He saw this as part of his responsibility for his community and to listening to the voices of those who are not represented in our society.
5. Family was also constant. Jonathan came from a large family. He shared many of the qualities of his father including a commitment to justice. His father would have been proud of the man that he was. His mother was also highly accomplished, and her model of hard work and social justice contributed to Jonathan’s life values.
The Chief Justice ended by saying that Jonathan Temm QC was learned, brave, and strong.
Jonathan Temm QC made a difference.
