New Zealand Law Society - Two new members at Kate Sheppard Chambers

Two new members at Kate Sheppard Chambers

Kate Sheppard Chambers has grown to 33 members with the recent announcement that Abigail van Echten and Susan Lamb have joined.

L-R: Abigail van Echten and Susan Lamb.

Abigail van Echten is an experienced litigator in both adversarial and inquisitorial forums. Abigail’s practice includes coronial, disciplinary, criminal, regulatory, and public law. As a prosecutor, she argued appeals and was lead or sole counsel prosecuting jury and Judge-alone trials involving gun violence, sexual violence, drugs and fraud. She advises and appears on disciplinary matters, health and safety proceedings and other regulatory matters. Abigail has a particular interest in the Coroners Court and is currently appointed as Counsel Assisting the Court in relation to the Masjidain (Mosque) Inquiry. She has contributed to publications on criminal law, health and safety, and professional responsibility. Abigail is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, but accepts instructions nationwide and regularly appears in courts throughout Aotearoa. 

Susan Lamb is an international lawyer specialising in international humanitarian and criminal law, alongside her practice as a criminal litigator in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington which has particular focus on appellate advocacy. Susan has over 20 years of UN, governmental and civil society consultancy experience in the international accountability, law of armed conflict, conflict-related sexual violence, counter-terrorism and anti-corruption fields. She has advised United Nations agencies, inter-governmental organisations, governments, and civil society organisations in various countries, including the Maldives, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Iraq and Bangladesh. In 2022, Susan was appointed to a one-year term as a Justice of the criminal division of the Belize Supreme Court (now High Court), where she had a substantial docket of homicide, sexual crimes, and other serious indictable offences. She is also a qualified arbitrator and a member of the Certified Institute of Arbitrators. Susan undertook doctoral studies in public international law at Oxford University in the 1990s as a Rhodes Scholar and has frequently taught university courses in international criminal law and transitional justice at the Universities of Otago and Auckland, and at many other law schools in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States. Given her experience in international criminal and humanitarian law and public international law, Susan enjoys acting on non-contentious matters and frequently provides legal, policy and strategic advice outside of a litigation context, on a broad range of issues within the international criminal and humanitarian law, counter-terrorism, and anti-corruption fields. She is currently part of an international body of professionals developing and building support for the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court.