No sooner had former Law Society President and former LawFuel Lawyer of the Year Tiana Epati announced her rooms with Bankside Chambers when husband Matanuku Mahuika joins her side at Bankside too, leaving the firm he co-founded.
Mahuika co-founded Kahui Legal with Jamie Ferguson (right) over 20 years ago, who has also retired from the partnership to join Kokiri Chambers, a virtual chambers founded in 2022 by Bernadette Arapere and Rohario Murray.
Kahui Legal has 17 lawyers, lead by 2024 LawFuel Lawyer of the Year Natalie Coates.
In announcing his withdrawal from Kahui Legal Mahuika said “It is a bittersweet feeling (and more bitter than sweet at this time) to be leaving the firm we started. However, that feeling is tempered by knowing that the firm is in great hands and has some very talented young lawyers coming through.”
In a LinkedIn post, Bankside noted: “Matanuku is a leading Māori lawyer in New Zealand, having presented arguments as counsel in five Supreme Court hearings in the last three years alone. He also founded and ran Kahui Law until recently, in addition to holding several high-profile directorships. Matanuku has also been appointed to several public reviews including Chair of the Ministerial Panel to review the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, and as chosen by the Prime Minister, to review the Intelligence and Security Act 2017, alongside former Supreme Court Judge Sir Terrence Arnold KC.”
Are we not “lawyers” and “leading lawyers”; I’m a vertically challenged lawyer (short) but am pleased no one catergorises me that way.