Court of Appeal judge Helen Winkelmann has been appointed Chief Justice of New Zealand and a Judge of the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Justice Winkelmann will take office on 13 March 2019.

Justice Winkelmann graduated with an LLB and a BA in History from Auckland University in 1987 and began work as a law clerk with Auckland firm Nicholson Gribbin (later Phillips Fox, now DLA Piper). In 1988, at age 25, Justice Winkelmann became the first female partner and one of the youngest partners ever in the firm’s then 117- year history.

In 2001, she left Phillips Fox to join the independent Bar, specialising in commercial litigation, insolvency and medico legal.

Justice Winkelmann was appointed a High Court Judge in 2004 and Chief High Court Judge in 2009. In 2015 she was appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal.