The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa is excited to launch its National New Lawyers Group to increase support for new lawyers through the early stages of their legal careers.

The group represents new lawyers with fewer than seven years post-qualified experience. It's designed to complement the networking and education work already being done by the Society’s eight regional new lawyer groups.

“We know that entering the legal profession, and those first years of being a lawyer, can be a challenging time and I am particularly mindful of the health and well-being of our next generation of legal leaders,” says Law Society President Tiana Epati.

“As the membership body for the profession we recognise the importance of supporting new lawyers who make up almost a third of the profession.

“The Board and I are excited to hear directly from this group about how we can better support new lawyers.  Without nurturing the next generation, we will never achieve the hope of ensuring that everyone can reach their full potential, irrespective of where and what background you have.”

Expressions of interest to join the group opened in August.  “We were really pleased to see the high calibre of lawyers wanting to be part of this new initiative."

"We were particularly pleased to receive applications from right across Aotearoa New Zealand, and from a diverse range of people and covering multiple practice areas and types of legal workplaces.

"I'm looking forward to listening to this very important voice and seeing the types of initiatives they design."

16 new committee members have been appointed. They include:

• Maria Sopoaga, Wellington 
• Callum McPetrie, Hawera 
• Jay Rajendram, Hamilton 
• Thilini Karunaratne, Hamilton 
• Vivian-Lee Schaaf, Auckland 
• Bree Munro, Gisborne 
• Josh Marshall, Blenheim 
• Nick Byrnes, Auckland 
• Mathew Martin, Auckland 
• Ella Stolwerk, Whangarei 
• Kaitlyn White, Christchurch 
• Joyce Chiu, Auckland 
• Josh Nyika, Hamilton 
• Victoria Rea, Wellington 
• Georgia Osmond, Masterton 
• Edward Dryden, Dunedin 

To read more about the members visit NZLS | New Zealand Law Society National New Lawyers Group