Tikanga Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori legal interests are no longer specialist issues. They increasingly influence litigation, public decision-making, governance issues and land and resource matters. Gain actionable insights form Māori law experts and gain from their deep experience. Analyse Te Tiriti and Public Decision Making, the practical issues shaping Maori land plus advising Maori entities on governance and decision making. This is essential knowledge for all lawyers.

Presenters

Renika Siciliano, Director, McCaw Lewis
Renika (Waikato Maniapoto) is a Director at McCaw Lewis Lawyers in Hamilton. She leads the firm's exceptional and passionate lawyers dealing with Tiriti/tikanga matters and workplace law. Renika provides legal and strategic advice to clients across Aotearoa and has extensive experience in matters relating to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Treaty settlement negotiations, Māori governance and iwi disputes. She has acted as a facilitator/mediator in various trustee matters and has been appointed to act as Independent Chair by the Māori Land Court. Her experience in workplace law sees her advising on various employment matters for both employers and employees, often in respect of tikanga and kaupapa Māori. Renika currently sits as a Director of Waikato Rugby, the Rototuna High Schools Board of Trustees, and is a member of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal.

Tom Bennion, Barrister and Solicitor, Bennion Law
Tom runs a boutique law firm specialising in public, Treaty and environmental law. He has been a practitioner since 1995 and appears regularly before the Waitangi Tribunal. He was its legal officer in the 1980s. He was involved in several of the recent urgent inquiries. He was a part-time lecturer at Victoria University for 13 years and founded the Māori Law Review in 1994 (now published out of the Victoria University of Wellington Law School).

Kelly Dixon, Partner, Dixon and Co Lawyers
Kelly has almost 20 years’ experience and has appeared in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court on judicial review proceedings, in the District Court on commercial summary judgment proceedings, before the Employment Relations Authority and in the Māori Land Court and before the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of various Treaty of Waitangi claimants. Kelly works with clients from across the North Island and has appeared before the Waitangi Tribunal in the Wairarapa, East Coast, National Park, Whanganui and Northland historic Inquiries and various Urgency Applications and Kaupapa Inquiries and Remedies Hearing before the Waitangi Tribunal. Kelly is a member of the Property Law Section, Resource Management Law Association, and the Māori Law Society. Kelly will oversee many of the firms’ property/conveyancing transactions. Kylee is a contributing author of Multicultural Lawyering, Navigating the Culture of the Law, the Lawyer and the Client K E O’Leary and M Martin-Scott (2021). She has also presented to the Community Law Waikato and the University of Waikato.


Kylee Katipo, Director, McCaw Lewis
Kylee Katipo is a Director at McCaw Lewis in Hamilton, where she helps whānau, hapū, and whenua Māori owners and trusts navigate the legal system — a value instilled in her growing up in a whānau that put service first. She specialises in Whenua Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and Te Taiao matters, weaving law and tikanga to find durable, long-term solutions for whenua Māori and Māori land governance. Kylee previously served as Research Counsel for the Māori Land Court judiciary. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Waikato and a Master of Indigenous Studies from the University of Otago. Beyond her legal work, Kylee is a trustee of Community Law Waikato and a guest lecturer at the University of Waikato. She joined McCaw Lewis in 2018 and was appointed Director in October 2023, and finds her own balance at home on her whānau whenua.

Rohario Murray, Barrister, Kokiri Chambers
Rohario is a barrister specialising in Public Law, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori legal issues, whenua and governance, and environmental matters. She has a particular interest in the intersection of tikanga and the Common Law. Her specialised areas are complex, and her goal is to provide targeted legal services with down-to-earth information and advice through a kaupapa Māori lens. She provides expert advice so that her clients can proceed with trust and confidence when making decisions. She listens carefully, develops tailored solutions to protect her clients’ interests, and explains the law in a simple and easy-to-understand way. She is based in Tauranga but is available to assist clients with their legal issues wherever they may be located.