It's April 1999 and Judges Carolyn Henwood (left) and Margaret Lee (right) join former Prime Minister David Lange to smile for the camera at the Law Conference in Rotorua.

All three are important figures in New Zealand's legal profession. Judge Henwood was just the third woman appointed to the judiciary in New Zealand, becoming a District Court Judge in November 1985. Prominent as a Youth Court Judge, she also served on the Parole Board, chaired the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service and has been prominent in theatre and the arts. Judge Lee was the fifth woman appointed a judge, being appointed to the District Court bench in May 1987. She was also the first person of Chinese ethnicity appointed to the New Zealand judiciary. Judge Lee served two terms as a Law Commissioner and retired from the bench in 2007. David Lange started his working life as a law clerk in 1961 and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor on 13 March 1967, practising in Northland and Auckland until 1977 when he became MP for Mangere (and later, of course, Prime Minister). Although he had retired from Parliament before the 1996 election, David Lange was still a much-sought after speaker and he acted as MC at the Rotorua conference.

The Rotorua conference was the second-last in a series of New Zealand Law Society conferences which began in Christchurch in 1927 and continued until the last one, fittingly, in Christchurch in 2001. The conferences were held irregularly - sometimes biennially, sometimes at longer intervals - until 1954 (in Napier) when it became a triennial event. Traditionally prestigious foreign visitors attended and a whirlwind social programme was held in conjunction with the presentation of many learned papers over the two or three-day event. Emerging technology and other social change meant the conferences had lost their drawing power by the start of the 21st century.