Allan Brent and his father, lawyer David, outside the High
Court at Dunedin yesterday. Photos by Linda Robertson.
The long arm of the law saved the day for a new lawyer in
Dunedin yesterday.
Moira Anderson was travelling from Auckland for her admission
to the Bar in the Family Court at Dunedin yesterday, when her
flight was delayed in Wellington by fog.
Counsel moving her admission, Dunedin lawyer David Brent,
immediately contacted former Dunedin City Council chief
executive Jim Harland, who was in Wellington and on the same
flight.
Mr Harland subsequently rang Mrs Anderson, whom he did not
know, and offered her a ride from Dunedin airport to the
Family Court, while Justice Graham Panckhurst agreed to a
special court sitting, two hours after the scheduled 2.15pm
ceremony.
Mrs Anderson, from Donegal, Ireland, said she wanted to be
admitted to the Bar in Dunedin ''because it's so beautiful''.
''But I didn't realise it would be such a mad dash to get
here,'' she added.
''A career path in law can bring the unexpected,'' Justice
Panckhurst observed.
Justice Graham Panckhurst has a word with Moira Anderson,
after her admission to the Bar yesterday.
''It has been quite a day for you and one you will
remember, for all sorts of reasons.''
After thanking everyone for saving the day, Mrs Anderson and
her husband, Andrew, then left Dunedin on a 6pm flight back
to Auckland.
It was quite a day, too, for Gallaway Cook Allan lawyer David
Brent, who moved his son, Allan, be admitted to the Bar
yesterday.
Mr Brent (25) became the fifth generation of his family to be
admitted to the Bar.
''It was nerve-racking. I haven't been that nervous in a very
long time,'' he said.
''I'm very proud,'' Mr Brent senior said.
''I worked with my father, John Brent, in Dunedin at Brent
Haggitt and Co.''
Dunedin has a long association with the law. In May, Lucy
Mehrtens (24) was the first New Zealander to become the sixth
generation in her family to follow the law,
according to New Zealand Law Society information.
Her great-great-great-grandfather D'Arcy Haggitt practised in
Dunedin in the early 1860s. Barristers and solicitors
admitted to the Bar by Justice Panckhurst yesterday were
Moira Mary Elizabeth Anderson, Allan Douglas William Brent,
Karen Bernadette Culpeper, Paul Robert William Ellicott,
Nathan Paul Graham, Jane Marguerite Guthrie, James Rawiri
Meager and Kieran Jon Miller.
nigel.benson@odt.co.nz
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