Introducing the Junior Barristers Committee

The President and Council are delighted to announce that a Junior Barristers’ Committee has recently been formed. Maria Dew KC thanks the junior barristers willing to serve on this Committee and support the junior bar.

What is a junior barrister?

There are a variety of definitions of a junior barrister. From the Bar Association's point of view, a junior barrister has less than seven years post-admission experience. That experience is not limited to time as a barrister. It includes experience in a law firm or in-house.

In some cases, a barrister may have been admitted many years ago but spent little time in practice. In those cases, we may consider an arrangement that will allow them to participate in junior barrister activities and receive the same support as junior barristers. Applications for this status should be made to the Executive Director.

What does the Committee do?

Aside from the general representation of juniors, the Committee organises targeted events and liaises with the Education Committee by suggesting CPD training. The JBC also reports to the Membership Committee on issues such as mentoring and commercial benefits via our membership app.

The JBC has been advocating for Juniors to have a more significant presence at and involvement in the NZBA Annual Conference. Part of this effort has been negotiating sponsorship for juniors to attend the conference. This is especially important this year as the conference will host a session explicitly focused on juniors: Junioring a Different Way.

Finally, within the next few weeks, the JBC will release a survey of juniors to build a clearer picture of the Junior Barrister workforce across the country. Using this information, the Committee will focus on targeted services and activities.

The Committee Members

Anna Price (Co-Chair)

Anna graduated LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 2018. She also holds a BA in history.

Anna works with Kathryn Dalziel at Walker Street Chambers in civil litigation, privacy and employment law. She has a background in Police prosecutions and continues to work in criminal litigation. She volunteers with Community Law Canterbury.

Sarah Courtney (Co-Chair)

Sarah is a junior barrister to Harry Waalkens KC, at Quay Chambers. She currently practises in the medico-legal litigation space. Before joining the bar, she clerked and was a solicitor at Reflective Construction Law.

Jane Barrow

Jane is a member at Britomart Chambers. She began her career as a tax solicitor, defending taxpayers in civil disputes and criminal proceedings. She moved to Harmos Horton Lusk where she assisted in Overseas Investment Act compliance and investigations, SFO investigations and corporate matters.

Most recently, Jane was at Shortland Chambers, acting as junior counsel on various commercial, civil, regulatory and family matters.

Jane provides advisory and advocacy services to commercial and private clients on all civil disputes.

James Clark

James is a barrister employed by King's Counsels Simon Foote and Jason Goodall.

James attended Victoria University of Wellington, graduating in 2020 with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in history). He was included on the Dean's list for academic excellence and was an assistant student editor of the Victoria University of Wellington Law Review (VUWLR). James was admitted to the bar in 2021.

Before commencing work at Bankside Chambers, James worked as a lawyer at Bell Gully on corporate transactions, including private and public mergers and acquisitions, and private equity matters.

Savanna Gaskell

Savanna provides litigation support to Len Andersen KC, Royden Somerville KC, Alison Douglass and Mark Kirkland in Barristers Chambers. She works on a broad range of legal matters, including criminal, civil and commercial, employment, family, resource management, mental health, and ACC.

Savanna holds a dual role on Council as the Junior Barrister and Otago/Southland regional representative.

Abbie Hollingworth

Abbie is an employed barrister with Kerryn Beaton KC at Walker Street Chambers. She graduated with LLB and BCom degrees from the University of Canterbury and was admitted in October 2017.

Before joining the bar, Abbie was a junior lawyer at the Public Defence Service in Christchurch. She continues to specialise in

Daniel Josephs

Daniel is a junior barrister employed by Maria Dew KC. He graduated Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland and joined Gaze Burt in January 2021 as a law clerk in the employment law team. Daniel was admitted to the bar in November

2021 and continued to practice as a barrister and solicitor in employment law. He moved to the bar and Britomart Chambers in May 2023.

Diana Qiu

Diana is a junior barrister at Thorndon Chambers. Before that, she clerked for two Presidents of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, Justice Stephen Kós (2021–2022) and Justice Mark Cooper (2022). During her clerkship, she worked on various public, private and criminal cases.

Diana graduated fourth in her cohort from the University of Auckland in 2021 with a BA and LLB(Hons). She was a Senior Scholar and competed successfully in numerous national and international mooting competitions.

Diana is keenly interested in public law, human rights law and international law, and commercial and investorstate arbitration. She was admitted to the bar in 2022.

Liberty Soanes

Liberty is a Law Clerk at Kanuka Chambers. She graduated from Victoria University, having made the Deans List for excellence in 2018.

If you want to know more about the JBC, please email the committee members