SERVICES

Kate distinguishes herself as a legal professional by being personable and approachable while realistic when advising and representing clients.

She is an extremely experienced practitioner in the summary jurisdiction of the District Court and has conducted well over 1,500 cases in that jurisdiction. This work includes police prosecutions, bail matters, sentencing and defended hearings. Kate’s strengths lie in her determined approach and she has particular strengths in sentencing/disposition hearings particularly for youth. She is innovative and exhaustive in her research and approach to planning proposals for sentencing exercises that will see an offender successfully retain their liberty while addressing underlying causes of offending. She is experienced in appeals to the High Court and has also appeared in the Court of Appeal on a number of occasions with good results.

Kate also acts on prosecutions by the Community Probation Service, including New Zealand Parole Board matters, and has a determined, thorough approach to this. Kate works on Crown prosecutions, sentencings and has completed a number of District Court jury trials. She has defended Environment Southland prosecutions and was counsel in many of the “Gypsy Day” stock truck prosecutions from 2010.