Welcome from the Dean

Welcome to the Law Faculty of Otago University. The Law Faculty was established in 1873 making it the first Law Faculty in New Zealand.  The first lecturer in Law at Otago, Sir Robert Stout (whom the Law Library is named after), went on to become Prime Minister of New Zealand and Chief Justice.  New Zealand's current Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, is a distinguished graduate of the Otago Law Faculty.

The Otago Law Faculty has the distinction of producing the first woman admitted to the Bar (in 1896) in New Zealand and the Commonwealth (as it was called at the time) ­ Ethel Benjamin.  You can see Ethel's photo both in the Law Library and the Law Faculty reception.

The Otago Law Faculty has a very experienced team of legal academics who have international reputations in their fields.  The Otago Law Faculty leads legal research in New Zealand.  This is evidenced by the Otago Law Faculty ranking first in the inaugural release by the New Zealand Government of research performance in New Zealand university law faculties.  Otago Law Faculty lecturers have worked and studied all over the world ­ from Oxford to Harvard, Yale to Cambridge and from British Columbia to Stanford. The Law Faculty produces the Otago Law Review which law libraries from all over the world subscribe to. The Law Faculty prides itself on ensuring that students receive the best possible legal education at all stages of their law degree.  The administrative staff are always willing to assist students with any concerns they may have.

The Otago Law Faculty is proud of its long history and tradition of providing a world class legal education second to none.  In the last decade the Otago Law Faculty has produced nine Rhodes Scholars (Christine French, Susan Lamb, Jenny Cooper, Damen Ward, Sally McKechnie, Christopher Curran, Glen Goldsmith, Jesse Wall and Laura Fraser), more than any other faculty or school in any discipline in any other university in New Zealand.  A Rhodes Scholar needs to be outstanding academically but also has to be a well rounded person of character who excels in cultural, community and sporting endeavours.

A unique strength of the Otago Law Faculty is that our students are drawn from all over New Zealand.  You will meet students from Kaitaia to Bluff and become friends and colleagues.

Otago Law Faculty students shine in national and international competitions.

Highlights from international competitions are:

• 1997 Melanie Robertson and Safraz Zavahir won the Louis M Brown
International Client Counseling Competition held in Bristol.

• 2002 the Otago Mooting team (who represented New Zealand) of Christopher Curran, Hamish Forsyth, Philippa Jones and Alexandra Smithyman, coached by Associate Professor Kevin Dawkins, won the prestigious Richard R Baxter Award at the Philip C Jessup International Moot Court Competition. The award was for the best written submission for the applicant in the competition.  The plaque says "World Champion Memorial Applicant". Three hundred and  seventy-five law faculties from around the world contested the competition.

• 2002 Christopher Curran was awarded a scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington DC for being best non-United States oralist in the Philip C Jessup International Moot Court Competition.

• 2002 the Otago Mooting team finished third equal with Harvard in the oral arguments in the Philip C Jessup International Moot Court Competition.

• 2001 the Otago Client Interviewing team (Hamish Forsyth and Amanda Jenkins), coached by Selene Mize, finished third in the Louis M Brown International Client Counseling Competiton.

• 2001 the Otago Negotiation team (Katie Evans and Tanya Pitchforth), coached by Selene Mize, finished third in the International Negotiation Competition.

• 2004 the Otago team (Simon Peart, Jarrod Clyne, Jo Murdoch and Neena Ullal), coached by Associate Professor Dawkins, representing New Zealand finished 8th out of 373 teams in the Philip C Jessup International Moot Court Competition.

• 2004 Matthew Smith won the cup for best mooter at the Australasian Moot Competition.

Otago teams perform outstandingly in national competitions.  For example in 2003 all Otago teams were finalists in the four national competitions.  Otago teams finished first in Mooting and Negotiation and runner-up in  Client Interviewing and Negotiation.

The Otago Law Faculty has the unique honour of two All Black captains in its ranks in recent times ­ Taine Randell and Tom Willis. Adine Wilson, the outstanding Silver Fern captain, is an outstanding graduate of the Otago Law Faculty.  Jonathan Lemalu, an Otago Law graduate of the 1990s, has won numerous international awards for his singing.

Law is an exciting and vibrant subject which is constantly changing and constantly providing intellectual challenges. The Law Faculty at Otago want you to enjoy an environment of intellectual rigour, debate and discussion on important legal issues.  We also hope you take a full part in the life of the Law Faculty by joining the Otago Law Students Association, the Mäori Law Students Assocciation (Te Roopu Whai Putake) or the Pacific Island Law Students Association. You are also encouraged to join the Community Law Centre and take part in the many competitions the Law Faculty provides.

We want you to have the best possible legal education.  Make full use of all that is on offer.  Prepare for classes and challenge your lecturers with perceptive questions.  Develop your ability to think independently and critically to the maximum.