Presenters

Catherine Marks, Special Counsel, Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko
Catherine has more than 20 years legal experience and specialises in administrative and regulatory law and public law litigation. She was a partner in a UK law firm specialising in local Government and Government law before returning to New Zealand in 2005. A key area of specialisation is regulatory work in the electricity, gas, telecommunications and banking sectors. Catherine's public law experience includes advice on public sector procurement and governance issues, law reform and judicial review.

Matthew Smith, Barrister, Thorndon Chambers
Matthew is a barrister at Thorndon Chambers in Wellington. He has a broad public and commercial law practice, encompassing regulatory, Māori, human rights and environmental law, and with a special expertise in judicial review and the use of public law tools to achieve meaningful outcomes for clients. Matthew works across the entire range of public law and has acted for public sector bodies (including Crown entities and commissions of inquiry), individuals, entities of many kinds (including companies, incorporated societies, trusts and Māori incorporations), industry groups and NGOs. He has appeared in all of the higher Courts, and in a number of specialist courts and tribunals - including the Waitangi Tribunal and the Māori Land Court. Matthew's non-litigation work tends to involve the provision of legal and strategic advice and support in a range of settings, including public inquiries, regulatory investigations, consultation processes and Parliamentary/law reform processes. Matthew is the sole author of the New Zealand Judicial Review Handbook - a comprehensive text on judicial review in New Zealand that is now in its second edition.