Associate Judges of the High Court
Associate Judge Johnston (appointed the Chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) as of 1 May 2023)
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Associate Judge Johnston
2018, based in Wellington
Associate Judge Johnston holds a BA, an LLB and a Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management from Victoria University; and an LLM (Dist.) from the College of Law of England and Wales. He was called to the Bar in early 1980. After short periods in the Crown Law Office and in London, he joined Watts and Patterson in mid 1981. That firm merged with two others to form Rudd Watts & Stone, and is now known as Minter Ellison Rudd Watts. Associate Judge Johnston was a solicitor, associate and partner until he retired to join the independent bar in late 1997, becoming a member of Lambton Chambers. He took silk in mid 2016. He was appointed the Chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) as of 1 May 2023.
Associate Judge Lester
2018, based in Christchurch
Associate Judge Lester graduated with LLB(Hons) from Canterbury University in 1990. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court in 1991 and worked at White, Fox & Jones. In 1991 and 1992 he was a Judges’ Clerk to the Christchurch High Court Bench. In 1994, he was employed as a litigation solicitor at Rhodes & Co. The following year he joined Saunders & Co, initially as a litigation solicitor and then an associate before joining the partnership in 1998. Associate Judge Lester left Saunders & Co in 2003 to join the Bar and co-founded Canterbury Chambers in 2007. His principal areas of practice were contract, commercial, insolvency and estate litigation. He was appointed an Associate Judge in 2018 and he is based in Christchurch.
Associate Judge Paulsen
2019, based in Christchurch
Associate Judge Paulsen graduated from the University of Canterbury with an LLB in 1986 and began his career as a solicitor at Harman & Co. He was admitted to the partnership of Harman & Co in 1991, before leaving in 1998 to travel overseas. From 2000 to 2001 he was an adjudication and mediation member of the Employment Tribunal, whilst also managing a sole practice as a litigation lawyer.
In July 2001 he joined Cavell Leitch Law as the Head Litigation Partner. He practiced in a broad range of areas including commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation, employment, human rights, and criminal law. While in this role, he graduated from the University of Auckland with an LLM (Comm) (Hons).
Associate Judge Paulsen was Lord Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga from 2015 to July 2019. He was appointed an Associate Judge in July 2019. Associate Judge Paulsen sits in Christchurch.
2020, based in Auckland
Associate Judge Gardiner graduated from the University of Otago with an LLB (Hons) in 1995 and began her career as a solicitor at DLA Piper New Zealand. In 1997 she relocated to London and took up a position with Herbert Smith Freehills, qualifying as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and practising in commercial litigation. She returned to New Zealand and joined Chapman Tripp in Auckland in 2002, where she practised in insurance and commercial litigation.
In 2013 Associate Judge Gardiner obtained an LLM (Hons) from the University of Auckland, and practised public law from 2013 to 2014 at Chen Palmer. She joined the Auckland Council in 2015 managing the Council’s Public Law team. Since 2018 Judge Gardiner was General Counsel for the Council, heading the Council’s in-house legal, risk and insurance department.
Associate Judge Gardiner has also held corporate governance roles in the financial services sector, as an independent director of Devon Funds Management Limited from 2014 to 2020 and the Investment Services Group from 2017 to 2020. Associate Judge Gardiner is based in Auckland.
Associate Judge Sussock
2020, based in Auckland
Associate Judge Sussock graduated from Victoria University with a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration and LLB (Hons) in 1991, starting as a staff solicitor with Phillips Fox Wellington (now DLA Piper). She moved to the Crown Law Office in 1993, working as Crown Counsel with the Public Commercial Team until 2001.
After a move to Auckland and time at home with her children, Associate Judge Sussock resumed her career in 2008, joining the commercial litigation firm, Wilson Harle, as Senior Associate. In early 2018 she left to join Lowndes Jordan as a partner in the litigation team.
Associate Judge Sussock was appointed in October 2020 and is based in Auckland.
Associate Judge Taylor
2021, based in Auckland
Associate Judge Taylor graduated from the University of Auckland with a BSc in 1976 and an LLB (Hons) in 1981 and was awarded Senior Prize in Law. He then spent two years in London working for a corporate law firm. He returned to Auckland in 1984 and in 1985 he joined the partnership of Holmden Horrocks & Co, spending three years in their Corporate Department. He joined Bell Gully in 1988, becoming a Corporate partner in 1989.
Associate Judge Taylor continued as a Corporate partner until he retired from the partnership in 2014. He then continued to practise at Bell Gully as a Consultant until 2021.
Associate Judge Taylor will sit in Auckland.
Associate Judge Brittain
2022, based in Auckland
Associate Judge Grant Brittain KC graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 1991 with an LLB and took up a role as a litigation staff solicitor with Gibson Sheat in Lower Hutt, working in criminal defence, family law and civil litigation.
In 1995 he relocated to London and worked for Freshfields in London, before returning to New Zealand in 1996 and taking up a role as a litigation staff solicitor for Hesketh Henry in Auckland, working in commercial and general civil litigation. From 2000 to 2002, Associate Judge Brittain held positions as an Associate for Sharp Tudhope and Senior Solicitor at Holland Beckett in Tauranga.
Since 2002 Associate Judge Brittain has been a barrister sole with a wide commercial practice, also working as a mediator and arbitrator, and as an adjudicator under the Construction Contracts Act 2002. He graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with an LLM(Dist) in 2017, and has been King’s Counsel since that same year.
Associate Judge Skelton
2023, based in Wellington
Associate Judge Andrew Skelton graduated from Canterbury University with an LLB in 1989 and joined Kensington Swan in Wellington as a solicitor. In 1991, he relocated to the United Kingdom to study at University College, London, graduating with an LLM (Merit) in 1992.
Associate Judge Skelton worked as a solicitor with London law firm Masons from 1993 to 1995. He then studied at the University of Oxford, Keble College, graduating in 1996 with a Master of Studies (MSt.), completing a thesis on the relationship between the law of restitution and the law of contract, subsequently published in 1998 by Mansfield Press, Oxford, as Restitution and Contract. In 1996 he returned to Kensington Swan in Wellington as an Associate, and then a Senior Associate. He was appointed to the partnership of that firm in 1999.
Since 2013, Associate Judge Skelton has been a barrister sole practising at Capital Chambers in Wellington, working in the areas of general civil litigation and arbitration, specialising in property, construction, insurance, company, and professional disciplinary and sports matters. He has served as a faculty member on the New Zealand Law Society Advanced Litigation Skills Course and Expert Witness Programme.