EXPERIENCE
Allan has been a lawyer for over 30 years. He graduated LLB (Hons) from Victoria University and later completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Child Advocacy (2008) and his Ph.D – State Responsibility for Children in Care- (2014) – both from the University of Otago. Allan has a particular interest in issues relating to children in State care.
Allan has practised law in South Auckland since the late 1980s. This is now mainly in the Family Court and in the High Court (appeals).
Allan is a senior lawyer for child and regularly receives instructions from the Family Court to act for children in both parenting (care) and Oranga Tamariki (care and protection) cases. Allan’s work very often involves highly complex children’s cases in the Family Court and also in the High Court and Court of Appeal.
Allan’s private (including legal aid) work involves acting for parents and other family members in disputes over the care of children and in care and protection cases, including here, foster parents. Allan also acts for non-governmental organisations involved in the child protection/foster care field.
Allan has been appointed senior counsel assisting the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions .
Allan represents parents who are involved in proceedings involving the Convention.
Allan practises in the disability area: the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act and the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act. He has experience in mental health law.
Allan has represented parties (private individuals, the Department of Children (Oranga Tamariki), and an NGO) at coronial inquests into the deaths of children.
Allan is a highly experienced mediator and is approved to conduct mediations under the Family Dispute Resolution Act 2013.
Allan was a member of the Executive of the Family Law Section of the New Zealand Law Society from 2011 to 2016 and was chair of the Section from 2014-2016. Since March 2018 he has been an ex-officio member of the Executive in his capacity as the editor of the Family Advocate, the quarterly magazine of the Family Law Section.
Allan has represented the Family Law Section at meetings with the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Children (Oranga Tamariki) and at Geneva when submissions were to the 73rd Country Pre-Session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Allan has presented submissions for the New Zealand Society to Select Committees of Parliament.
Allan has presented papers to the New Zealand Family Law Conferences in 2009, 2013 and 2015. In 2016 and 2019 Allan co-presented New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) seminars on the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (Vulnerable Children) Amendment Act. He presented a paper at the 2016 Annual Conference of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in Seattle. Allan has regularly presented at educational forums addressing family law issues.
Allan is a director of New Zealand Law Society (CLE) Ltd.
He has published a number of articles in the New Zealand Family Law Journal and in both 2014 and 2020 contributed a chapter to an international family law text. In 2020 Allan was co-author of an article published in the Family Court Review (US) concerning family group conferences.
Allan has been a guest lecturer at the University of Auckland social work course since 2014.
Allan was a contributing editor to the Brookers text “The Legal Services Act”, between 2000 and 2010.
AREAS OF FOCUS:
Adoption
Care of children
Child protection
Coroners inquests
Disability law
Domestic violence
Hague Convention proceedings
CONTACT DETAILS
Email: allan@quadrantchambers.co.nz
Phone (DDI): 09 260 4177
Mobile: 027 475 9390