Simon Maude Appointed District Court Judge

Simon John Maude, Solicitor of Wellington, has been appointed a District Court Judge with a Family Court warrant, Attorney-General Michael Cullen announced today.

Mr Maude was admitted in 1977 and has practiced since in Wellington and Porirua. He was a partner in the law firms Beyer, Christie, O'Regan and Dunning, Brandon Brookfield, and Maude and Miller before establishing, in 1993, the specialist Family Law Firm known as the Karori Family Law Centre (now Wellington Family Law). In the early years after his admission his practice was divided between family law (about half) and general property law and litigation (civil, criminal and traffic). Since 1984 he has practised exclusively in family law, including Lawyer for Children work, Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act cases and limited mediation of guardianship and relationship property disputes.

He was Chair of the NZLS Family Law Section from 2005 to 2007, having served on the executive since 2000 and as its Deputy Chair from 2001 to 2005. He served on the Wellington Legal Aid Committee from the 1980s until it ceased to exist in 2000 and is currently the NZLS Family Law Section's representative on the NZLS Continuing Legal Education Board. Outside the law he has been active as a church elder and coach of children's sports teams.

Mr Maude will be sworn in on 18 January 2008 and will sit in Whangarei.

ENDS

© Scoop Media