Monday, 1 September 2025
Learning Objectives:
- Learn practical and sensitive interviewing techniques tailored to children’s needs and legal requirements
- Understand the role, responsibilities, and updated best practice guidelines for Lawyers for Child under the relevant legislation
Interviewing Techniques When Talking to Children: A Lawyer for Child Perspective
- Sensitive interviewing of the child
- Being clear on the purpose of the interview
- Preparing the child for the interview
- Focusing on the process including how to obtain the relevant information
- When interviewing children: What does the Lawyer for Child consider?
- Legislation that authorises the appointment of the Lawyer for Child
- Law Society Practice Notes: updated July 2024 and Lawyer for Child Best Practice Guidelines
Presented by David Amodeo, Barrister, Hobson Chambers; Debbie Bryan-Lamb, Partner/Mediator, Ward Adams Bryan-Lamb and Shelley Stevenson, Barrister, Kumutoto Chambers
*Original Content was created in October 2024
Chair
David Amodeo, Barrister, Hobson Chambers
Description
Attend and earn 0.5 CPD hour
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Presenters
David Amodeo, Barrister, Hobson ChambersDavid is a barrister who specialises and practises in all areas of relationship and family law, and has done so for over a quarter of a century. David represents a wide variety of clients, including individuals, families and organisations in situations and proceedings across the wide diversity of situations involving people and property that are encompassed within the relevant jurisdictions. Throughout his time in practise David has presented many seminars to lawyers and other professionals working within the area and continues his involvement in a variety of roles within professional associations working in Aotearoa.
Debbie Bryan-Lamb, Partner/Mediator, Ward Adams Bryan-Lamb
Debbie is a partner at Ward Adams Bryan-Lamb. As an experienced litigator Debbie specialises in family law specialising in Care of Children Act, Protection of Personal Property Rights Act proceedings, division of relationship property matters, trust and company entities. Debbie is Lawyer for Child and Lawyer for Subject Person and also assists clients with wills, trusts, elderly law, employment and retirement village matters. Debbie is an experienced mediator with AMINZ (Arbitrators' and Mediators') Institute of NZ Inc., FDR Mediator/Provider, a credentialed Associate FDR Member, Voice of Child Specialist and an accredited member of the NZ Law Society's Panel of Mediators as a Family Specialist. Debbie has a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies (Dispute Resolution) and is renowned for helping parties reach resolution in all kinds of disputes. As a "people person" Debbie has extensive experience working collaboratively with parties from all walks of life, having mediated disputes involving deeply personal family conflict, employment, relationship property and long-standing commercial disputes.
Shelley Stevenson, Barrister, Kumutoto Chambers
Shelley is an experienced family lawyer based in Wellington, New Zealand. She specialises in all aspects of family law and has special interest in relationship property and cases involving Oranga Tamariki. She is regularly appointed by the Family Court to represent children in parenting disputes and child protection cases. Earlier in her career Shelley was a youth advocate, criminal defence lawyer and civil litigator and has worked in family law since 1995.
