Here Are 8 Kiwi Celebs Who You Never Knew Were Also Lawyers

/ LawStars, Lawyers, New Zealand Law News, NZ Top in LawFuel / / By
Blairstrang lawfuel

The law, as we know, is not just for lawyers. It is also a grounding for those in just about every pursuit you might imagine.

However we have provided here a look at seven kiwi celebs who also have law degrees although most have never practised to any extent.

Check the list below.

List sponsor: Staedtler

Raybon Kan

Comedian Raybon Kan worked for Chapman Tripp before deciding the law was not for him. The Masterton-born Kan was dux at his school before studying at Victoria University for an LL.B (honours).

He took his debating team to second place in the world debating championships but it was jouralism that then took his interest.

He first came to media prominence writing television reviews for The Dominion newspaper in Wellington and performed stand-up comedy on stage and on television. His television work included regular appearances on comedy sketch shows and he was named Best Comedian by Metro and North and South magazines on repeated occasions in New Zealand. He has performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, (where The Age newspaper named him one of the festival’s highlights,) the Montreal Comedy Festival (1998 and 2001) and the Edinburgh Fringe. He has also performed in Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sydney. He was nominated for the inaugural Billy T Award in 1997.

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Sheena Martin

Qualifying in law from Otago Law School did not see Sheena Martin do any law office heavy lifting but rather she became a professional body builder. Born in Gore but is now a California-based champion ‘Bikini pro’ in the International Federation of Body Building Fitness. She entered her first Bikini competition in 2013 “just as a goal” and five months later she won her “pro card” and in 2016 became the first New Zealand woman to compete at Olympia, which she described as “completely surreal”.

A professional body builder since 2014 she moved to California in 2018 and also runs Sheena-Jayne Fitness to share her knowledge and experience about body building.

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Simon Dallow

Long time newsreader Simon Dallow is an Auckland University law graduate who started his career working as a litigator. He has anchored TV1 news since 2006 and although there have been recent rumours of his demise in that role, the experienced presenter appears to be safe in his current role.

Although looking to be a pilot with the air force but found his femur was too long for the position, causing him to switch to law. He worked in law briefly before moving to Europe where he worked for six years as a Contiki tour guide.

His ability to speak confidently to an audience, grounded in his initial legal background and finessed with his European tour work, lead to his work as a broadcaster.

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Jesse Mulligan

Mediaworks’ ‘Project’ host Jesse Mulligan is a qualified lawyer who commenced his career as a stand-up comedian, following a win in a stand-up comedy competition, and moved into radio hosting and working in London for a PR agency.

He later secured his current roles on the TV3 news show and as host of Radio New Zealand’s afternoon show.

Mulligan, a keen culinary expert, also writes a restaurant review for the NZ Herald and, a talented writer, has also penned articles for media outlets like ‘The Economist’. He also works as an event MC and as a writing consultant helping ads and brands ‘find the funny’ in their off- and online communications and advertising.

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Blair Strang

Shortland Street actor Blair Strang is best known for playing ambulance driver Rangi Heremaia on New Zealand’s longest-running soap opera, Shortland Street, between 1995 and 2001 and Brian King on Nothing Trivial from 2011 to 2014.

Rangi Hereraia

However he is an experienced family lawyer working for his own firm, Blair Strang Barrister, where he has been practising from chambers in Albany since 2008. He married fellow Shortland Street actor Katrina Devine and has also made numerous acting appearances in television dramas and shows, including the recent Maori Television show Kaitangata Twich.

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Nadine Loren

Nadine Loren is a Swiss-born Kiwi singer/songwriter who is now based in LA but qualified as a lawyer from Auckland University before working at MinterEllisonRuddWatts.  Her acting and singing career continued to develop as she played roles in Xena, Street Legal and a variety of movies as well as developing her singing which had moved between opera and pop, combining genres and fusing different styles that ultimately lead to her move to California to develop her career, rubbing shoulders with a variety of celebs and mover-and-shakers.

In 2011 she married multi-millionaire investment firm chairman Michael J. Levitt this year, ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky and David Foster were among the guests. The couple were married by Antonio Villaraigosa, the then Mayor of Los Angeles.

Conrad Smith

Former All Black Conrad Smith completed his law degree, with honours, at Victoria University before signing with the Hurricanes in 2004 and becoming an All Black at the age of 22 in the same year. He also joined Bell Gully and continued to work in the firm in the mid 2000s whenever playing commitments permitted, later moving to Gibson Sheat.

One of his self described career highlights has been representing the Players Association, including his work as part of the team that lobbied and obtained guaranteed retainers for players. He has said he looks forward to a return to law after the end of his playing career.

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Peter McKenzie

Well known horse trainer Peter McKenzie is both a lawyer, singer and an occasional actor, notably appearing in Lord of the Rings, playing Elendil in the battle scen with his nemesis Sauron. He is also the father of Flight of the Concords partner and Oscar winner Bret McKenzie.

Elendil, (Peter McKenzie)

McKenzie has trained a Melbourne Cup contender, (Sculptor) and commenced his life in horse training as a law student when he worked as a jockey. He also handled part-time work as a singer and dancer in musicals and other productions.

Apart from his LOTR role, where son Bret played Figwit, he also played in King Kong and a large number of television productions.

His horse training operation at Ohau, north of Wellington, has been a busy horse training ground for several years. Although we do not know whether he ever worked as a lawyer, he certainly appeared in many costume dramas involving horses, including the above, but also including William Tell and The Dark Knight.

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Look Here>> 10 Legally-Qualified Celebs

(You Never Knew Were Lawyers)

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    Former Wall Street Broker Sentenced to Five Years’ Jail For Ponzi Scheme

    / Press Releases / September 30, 2020 / By
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    Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that PAUL A. RINFRET was sentenced in Manhattan federal court today to 63 months in prison for participating in a Ponzi scheme in which he obtained approximately $19 million in total from victims through a variety of lies and misrepresentations.  RINFRET pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud on October 8, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods, who also imposed today’s sentence.

    Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “Today, Paul Rinfret was brought to justice for callously lying to investors.  Rinfret told investors his investment returns were excellent, when in fact he failed to invest investor funds as promised, generated losses when he did invest, and diverted the majority of investor funds to his personal use and to repay investors in a Ponzi-like fashion.  We will continue to aggressively pursue frauds like this one, which caused millions of dollars in losses, in order to preserve investor confidence in our capital markets.”

    According to the allegations contained in the Complaint and the Indictment:

    From at least 2016 through 2019, RINFRET engaged in a scheme to defraud potential and actual investors in an entity called Plandome Partner s L.P. for his own personal gain and for the gain of his family members.  RINFRET offered potential investors the ability to invest in Plandome Partners through the purchase of limited partnership interests.  In soliciting investments, RINFRET falsely represented to potential and actual investors (the “Victims”) that he would use all of their investment funds to trade futures contracts tied to the Standard & Poor’s 500 index using a propriety trading algorithm he had developed, taking for himself a fee equivalent to 25% of the net profits on the trades. 

    Through his fraudulent scheme, RINFRET obtained approximately $19 million in total from approximately six Victims on the false claim that he would utilize their investment funds for trading.  RINFRET’s lies and misrepresentations were varied and many.  For example, RINFRET claimed that Plandome Partners traded through certain brokerage accounts, one of which simply did not exist, and two of which were not open at a time when RINFRET claimed to be trading in those accounts. 

    Further, RINFRET used only a small portion of the Victims’ invested funds to engage in actual trading.  Instead, RINFRET used most of the Victims’ money to purchase luxury goods and high-end vacation rentals for himself and family members.  For example, RINFRET used the Plandome Partners account to spend almost $50,000 on a luxury Hamptons vacation rental, more than $40,000 on jewelry, and tens of thousands of dollars on the event venue where his son held his engagement party. 

    When RINFRET did actually engage in trading with Victims’ funds, he generated losses.  But, to prevent his Victims from seeking a return of their money, and to induce additional investments, RINFRET falsely reported excellent investment performance results to the Victims through false and fraudulent monthly account statements that RINFRET typically emailed to the Victims.  RINFRET also sent fabricated brokerage account statements to the Victims. 

    *                      *                      *

    In addition to the prison term, RINFRET, 71, of Manhasset, New York, was sentenced to two years of supervised release, ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $20,268,268, and to pay $12,290,803 in restitution to his victims.

                Ms. Strauss praised the investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations and also thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance in the investigation.

                The prosecution of this case is being overseen by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert L. Boone is in charge of the case. 

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