Erin James has been practicing for 10 years in a wide range of civil and commercial litigation areas at all levels from tribunal to Supreme Court. She has appeared in the District Court, High Court, Maori Land Court, Maori Appellate Court, and Court of Appeal, as well as various tribunals and arbitrations. Erin commenced practice as a solicitor at a boutique law firm in Auckland, specialising in refugee determinations and appeals, Treaty of Waitangi negotiations, and Māori land law. Before joining the independent bar, she worked as a junior barrister for a senior barrister at Shortland Chambers, New Zealand’s largest set of barristers’ chambers. The focus was primarily commercial litigation, but she also undertook a substantial amount of work involving Māori land law and associated trusts and incorporations.
Specialist Areas:
1) Property Law
Erin has assisted clients with a wide range of property disputes, including lease arbitrations, issues under the Unit Titles Act, leaky buildings, tenancy disputes.
2) Contract and Consumer Protection Law
Erin has represented clients with various contractual challenges, and has advised in relation to risk minimisation in contractual drafting, and the interpretation of complex contractual terms. She has also assisted clients with claims under the Fair Trading Act, Sale of Goods Act, Consumer Guarantees Act, and Contractual Remedies Act.
3) Human Rights/Refugee & Immigration
Erin has maintained a strong interest in social justice and human rights, having studied, volunteered and worked in the area for over a decade. Erin has a particular interest in the tension between national security and human rights in New Zealand and overseas. Prior to joining Chambers, Erin assisted counsel for the detainee in Zaoui v Attorney General [2005] 1 NZLR 666; [2006] 1 NZLR 289 (SC), New Zealand’s first case of detention on the grounds of national security, and worked for over three years on the legal team reviewing the security risk certificate issued against Mr Zaoui before it was eventually withdrawn. She has also drafted advocacy statements for the Human Rights Commission on the use of classified information. Erin has been an invited speaker at Amnesty International’s annual debate on human rights and co-authored a chapter on refugees and others in need of protection in “Law Into Action”, a book published by Thomson-Reuters. She has recently been appointed to the executive board of the Human Rights Lawyers Association.
4) Maori Land Law/Treaty of Waitangi
Erin has worked on Treaty of Waitangi and Maori Land Law issues for close to a decade. She has assisted clients with Treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown, establishing Maori governance entities, opposition to offshore oil drilling and applications under the Takutai Moana Act. Erin has also been involved in a number of Maori Land law cases involving applications for partition, long-term leases, encroachment, trespass, development of Maori land, establishing Maori land trusts and Maori incorporations.
