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 former 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 and Otago being ranked first in the field of legal research in the 2007 Research Performance results.  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 around 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 recent times the Otago Law Faculty has produced ten Rhodes Scholars (Christine French, Susan Lamb, Jenny Cooper, Damen Ward, Sally McKechnie, Christopher Curran, Glen Goldsmith, Jesse Wall, Laura Fraser and Alice Irving), 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, Reuven Young, Philippa Jones and Alexandra Smithyman, coached by 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 held in Washington.
• 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 Competition.
• 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, Matt Gillett and Neena Ullal), coached by Professor Dawkins, representing New Zealand finished 8th out of 529 teams in the Philip C Jessup International Moot Court Competition.
• 2004 Matthew Smith won the cup for best mooter at the Australasian Moot Competition.
• 2006 the Otago Negotiation team (Charlotte Kirkcaldie and Sophia Atkinson coached by Selene Mize) who were the national champions won the International Negotiation Competition in Orlando, Florida.
• 2006/2007/2008 Marcelo Rodgriguez Ferrere, David Pannett, Laura Fraser, Katherine Barker and Annabelle Robb, won the Mahony Cup for the National Family Law Moot Competition.
• 2007/2008/2009 Rachel Kennard, Jesse Wall and Laura Fraser were awarded the Legal Research Foundation prize for the best research and legal writing by a New Zealand law student.
• 2008 Honor Lanham and Emma Peart represented New Zealand in the world Negotiation Competition in London finishing fourth.
• 2009 Mitch Singh and Roshni Kaur won the final of the Buddle Findlay Negotiation Competition.
• 2010 Mitch Singh and Roshni Kaur placed first in the World Negotiation Competition in Brisbane, Australia.
• 2009/2010 The Otago competitions team won the President’s Cup for the best performing team at the National Law Competitions.
• 2010 Aimee Gulliver received the Outstanding Presentation Award in the 2010 Latin Moot Corp Competition in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
• 2010 Maia Wikaira won the M?ori National Mooting Competition, Mooting in Te Reo M?ori.
• 2010 Nic Blumsky-Gibbs and Sean Conway won the National Client Interviewing Competition.  Alice Osman and Louis Chambers were runners up in the National Mooting Competition and Kate Lawson-Bradshaw was second in the Witness Examination competition.

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 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.  James Ryan a recent Otago Law Graduate emerged as a rising star for the Highlanders and All Blacks in 2005 and 2006.  Jaclyn Hawkes won the gold medal in the doubles squash at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.

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 M?ori Law Students’ Association (Te Roopu Whai Putake) or the Pacific Island Law Students’ Association.  You are encouraged to join the Community Law Centre to use your legal skills to help others and take part in the many competitions the Law Faculty provides to enhance your legal abilities

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.