By ERIN EBBORN
Principal Lawyer/Rōia Aporei

Whether you’re a graduate at the coalface or leading the highest court in the land, there’s one thing you have in common: a commitment to justice.

On a recent visit to Portia’s Christchurch office, the Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann showed an appreciation of the work Portia staff have done to promote access to justice in New Zealand, particularly in the field of family law.

Access to justice in New Zealand is a basic human right enshrined in both national and international law. The work to improve it primarily involves identifying and removing barriers. Some barriers – such as the cost of legal advice – are obvious, others are harder to see.

Digital poverty, age, fear, homelessness, mental illness, addiction, bureaucracy, ethnicity and inherent social bias are all things that prevent segments of society from getting a fair go.

There is a choice that every lawyer and law firm can make when it comes to how we deal with our clients: we can deliver legal services dispassionately, or; we can treat them holistically to help resolve their legal problem in the context of what else is going on in their life.
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The former is perfectly acceptable but the latter can be achieved through planning and good networking.

In 2019 the incoming Chief Justice of New Zealand broke with protocol and in doing so set two justice juggernauts on a collision course.

Dame Helen invited Auckland City Missioner, Chris Farrelly, to give the speech in reply at her swearing in.

In his speech, Chris quoted poet and civil rights activist MayaAngelou, paying tribute to the new Chief Justice as both a “composition and a composer” – someone who not only composes the future of their own life but also helping the future of everyone around her.

The speech inspired Erin Ebborn and Jarrod Coburn to write to the City Missioner, seeking ways to assist their clients access justice.
After 18 months of discussion and planning an operational ​MOU was

issues and barriers faced by the Mission’s client base, a very different situation to our women’s refuge partners.

Portia’s Jarrod Coburn sees the new arrangement as “a very significant step” in the role law firms will play in building trust and legitimacy within the justice system.
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When people lead by example ​then others often are compelled to follow. Chris Farrelly and the Chief Justice together presented a wero to the profession. Nobody should be afraid to pick up the taki.