The former chancellor of the University of Otago died on Saturday at Yvette Williams Retirement Village in Dunedin, a death notice says.
She was 82.
Born in Invercargill and educated at Otago Girls’ High School in Dunedin, Mrs Medlicott started studying law at Otago in 1972, after completing a Master of Arts, and was admitted to the bar in 1975.
Her first position was at Dunedin law firm Cook Allan & Co in 1975; she was made partner in 1980, one of the first women in Dunedin to reach this milestone.
She left to form her own practice in 1986.
Around this time she also co-founded Owls, the Otago Women’s Law Society.
Her legal work often centred around issues of significance to women, such as Family Court and relationship property issues.
She was also frequently appointed by the Family Court to represent children in custody and welfare cases.
She served on the University of Otago council for 13 years, six of those as chancellor, from 1993 to 1998.
She also served on multiple boards, including Radio New Zealand, the Otago District Health Board, the New Zealand Law Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal and the Ashburn Hall Charitable Trust.
In 2003, she was one of 140 prominent New Zealanders who signed a petition seeking a Royal Commission into the controversial conviction of childcare worker Peter Ellis.
In the 1998 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Mrs Medlicott was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the legal profession, education and the community.
The same year she received an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Otago.
An obituary will follow.
— Staff reporter
