You may be interested or even intrigued to read some of the analysis of the legal profession in New Zealand published recently by the NZ Law Society. 

There are just over 11,000 lawyers in New Zealand. Male lawyers continue to outnumber female lawyers; 54% of New Zealand lawyers are male and the remaining 5000 (or 46%) are female. Here at Tompkins Wake, we buck the national trend, with 24 female lawyers and 21 males making up our team. Compare this with 1990, when nationally women were only 20% of the profession.

This change in gender balance is partly explained by the growing number of women in New Zealand who are graduating as lawyers. In 1990, 225 (45%) of the 491 new lawyers admitted to the profession were women. In 2010 women represented 561 (63%) out of the total of 892 admitted to the profession. At Tompkins Wake, female Associates and Solicitors outnumber their male counterparts by 17 to 6. We are confident that our young talent represent some of the best young lawyers in the country.

From new graduates through to the highest levels of the profession, our firm has a proud record and over the years has produced a strong bench of judges including Lance Tompkins, David Tompkins, Barry Patterson, Grant Hammond, John Bathgate and Gary MacAskill. Interestingly, in the current judiciary there are no registered graduates of Waikato Law School. This is probably because it is the newest law school, but this statistic will be one to watch in coming years.

Throughout New Zealand 5000 lawyers are located in Auckland, 1000 in Waikato and Bay of Plenty, 760 in the South Island and 2600 in Wellington. This means 70% of New Zealand’s lawyers are found in either Auckland or Wellington and our location outside these two main centres makes our goal of being a leading New Zealand law firm even more meaningful. Bringing quality lawyers and legal work to our clients remains the cornerstone of what we do, as does our belief that our clients should be able to source the calibre of assistance they require locally.

All of these statistics indicate a profession that is slowly moving and changing. As with all industries, it is important we stay up to date with the communities, businesses and families we serve. Our Latest News story this month introduces the two latest members of the Tompkins Wake team. As ever, we remain committed to bringing you the best lawyers available.

Talk to us about any legal matters you have that need addressing. Now, more than ever, we feel confident our team is made up of the people best able to advise you.

Richard Rowley CEO