Queenstown-based lawyer Rachel Lohrey has been appointed as a Family Court associate.
Attorney-general Judith Collins announced the appointment of the first six Family Court associates, in a move designed to relieve pressure on the Family Court system.
She said the associates would take responsibility for much of the initial work required to get cases to the point that a substantive decision could be made, including conducting mediation and settlement conferences and issuing pre-hearing directions.
The Attorney-general said there were more than 16,000 active cases before the Family Court and the average age of those cases was more than 300 days. The associate roles would free up Family Court judges to devote more time to hearing and determining substantive matters before the court.
The appointments will start after Easter.
Ms Lohrey was a Queenstown-based barrister who is a principal adviser at the Institute of Judicial Studies.
She began practising in Christchurch before moving to Palmerston North, initially as an in-house lawyer at Oranga Tamariki then on to private practice.
Ms Lohrey has also taught postgraduate and professional courses for the College of Law.
