He rubbed shoulders and made friends with some of the most famous people on Earth, but former Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) David Howman hasn’t forgotten his roots in the tabloid press.
“I used to be in one of those gangs who wrapped NZ Truth on a Monday night to help me get through university… I probably read everything you wrote… And I have been reading your stuff from a distance for a while…” says David, who recently re-joined Harbour Chambers in Wellington after more than 13 years as an international citizen based in Montreal.
“It’s good to see lawyers are good ordinary people and I enjoy catching up on a few people I have not seen for a while through these profiles…”
- Name
- John David (David) Howman
- Born
- Wellington.
- Age
- 67.
- Entry to law
- Graduated BA from Victoria University in 1969, LLB(Hons) from Victoria University in 1972, Masters in comparative law from Pennsylvania University in 1975, Honorary Doctorate from University of Western Ontario in 2016. Admitted in 1973.
- Workplace
- Barrister in Harbour Chambers, Wellington.
- Speciality area
- Sport law, family law and associated issues, nationally and internationally.
“It’s hard to give a short version of what I’ve been doing…
“I started in the 1980s doing quite a lot of work in sport and developed what I called a sport law practice… I acted for a lot of athletes and did a lot of work around the place, including working for the Hillary Commission…
“That led me to get legal work with the New Zealand sport drug agency… Which led to me being appointed chair of the agency…
“In that capacity I was asked to represent the Minister of Sport at a world conference which the International Olympic Committee convened between sport and governments in 1999 and out of that WADA was born…
"I ... get appointed chair of the legal committee because I'm a lawyer..."
“There were two appointments on the WADA board picked up by Australia and New Zealand, and Sport Minister Trevor Mallard asked me to be his representative on the board…
“I rock up to the first meeting and get appointed chair of the legal committee because I’m a lawyer…
“I did a lot of legal work leading to the first code, which was put in place in March 2003… But before that, in October 2002, the then President of WADA contacted my wife Jane Young (a former TV3 political reporter) and asked if we would like a two-year sabbatical to come up to Montreal and sort the WADA office out…
“That was a job described as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer… W e left New Zealand in March 2003… I reported in April on what I had found and as a result there was a change at the top, I was asked to be Director General and told we may have to stay a bit longer… Thirteen and a half years… With annual leave home every Christmas…”
Despite being in a sport-related job David had to leave his tennis behind “because I did not run across people to play with in Montreal – partly because I was too busy with work…”. He was previously ranked third as a junior in New Zealand and made the junior Davis Cup training squad.
“My wife also told me not to take my golf clubs so both those sports fell by the wayside… I used the treadmill instead…
“And in winter in Montreal you cannot go outside… I played a fair bit of rugby when I was younger and played for Victoria University until I got smashed…”
David and Jane have a blended family with five children and seven grandchildren. Young brother Andrew Scott-Howman and brother in law Peter Graham are both lawyers.
“My three sons learned very quickly they wanted to do other stuff… One is a graphic designer, one a creative director in international advertising in the United States and another runs an IT department of about 40 in Queensland… They have chosen careers which are more globally mobile that the legal profession…”
With WADA offices also in Lausanne, Capetown, Montevideo and Tokyo, David was kept on the move.
“I don’t need to do any more travelling… At WADA I was doing between 120 and 130 international flights a year… Jane generously described me as a human boarding pass…
“I’m good on airport lounges and meeting rooms in hotels…
“The thing about the travel I did was the people I would meet… I have a huge number of international friends I regard as good mates… There were also many spots where we were looked after extremely generously and had wonderful opportunities to see many countries on days off…
“I have seen some very good sport and been to seven or eight Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cups - you name it I have been there…
“I have been very privileged… You never want to see these things as something you take for granted, you see them as a privilege and not abuse them…
“I am not musical and don’t play any instruments but I have always been Rolling Stones man and will never change…They are No 1 and No 2 is quite a long way back…
“I read two or three books a week and have a library of about 5000 books…I threw out 2000 when we left Montreal to come back…I’m not buying books so much because of the ease of travelling with Kindle…”
“I read mainly sport and political stuff from Africa - I have a whole African political library… I am interested in the way they are trying to get through colonial issues and differences country to country in doing that, with particular emphasis obviously on South Africa…”
David’s interest in Africa was triggered by his good friend, the late Dr Rolland O’Regan, father of Sir Tipene O’Regan.
“Rolland lived across the road from us when we were kids and he owned a tennis court where I hit balls every day…
“He was the guy who led the No Māoris No Tour protests in 1960 and we were pretty active in relation to that… It led to a big interest in getting rid of apartheid and also supporting what New Zealand needed to do in this country…
“We watch a lot of politics on television including the Late Late Show, Al Jazeera, BBC, Russian TV and Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show is high on our watch list… All useful to watch…
“I was told by a careers advisor when I left school that I ought to look at law and arts to make sure I didn’t get too narrow-minded too quickly…
“I looked at whether foreign affairs might be something I would be interested in… When I finished law school I got a job with the late Roy Stacey and was a contemporary of John Billington…
“We had good training on the job in advocacy from Roy, rocking up at court and needing to do things or your feet…
“Things took off after that… Roy was an artist… And Billington is bloody good… He had a run of about 14 or 15 acquittals in jury trials after he was first admitted…
“My car at the moment is a little Audi R3… In Canada we had a Volvo 4x4 – with everything that could combat the snow… No matter what you say about driving in the cold you cannot be acclimatised to driving in Montreal where it gets to minus 40 for a while…
“There’s snow on the ground from December to April… I was well known at the office for sending people home if there was an imminent snow storm because I was too scared to drive in the snow… The Volvo helped…
“We love holidays on the Coromandel Peninsula… Our eyes have been opened since coming home and we have done a couple of trips… One up through Auckland to Whitianga and last week I drove from Dunedin to Invercargill… I know we all say it is a wonderful country - it’s why people like visiting this place…
“We have looked after a lot of interesting people including Tom Scott, Don McKinnon, Stephen Fleming, Jeffrey Wilson, Kerri Woodham… They would liven up a dinner…
“We try to get people around the table who are famous and it is difficult for them to be out in the public eye so having them at home where they can talk a little bit freer is something we have enjoyed… Journalist Gordon McBride is another one… And my little brother Andrew is always interesting…
“I’m a big believer in not looking backwards… I have enjoyed my career, I don’t regret anything and don’t think I would have wanted to do anything different…
“I feel I have a role as a bit of a godfather now mentoring and helping people – maybe not so much in the law – but in sport… would like to see younger people get a fair shot at things…
“New Zealanders are very competent globally and prepared to roll their sleeves up and get on with stuff as opposed to many from other countries… The more I could help young Kiwis get a fair shake of the dice the better…
“I feel I have done a pretty big job and am now available for people who want to take advantage of the expertise and experience I have got…
“The slower lifestyle suits me… I have been living pretty frenetically so I’m keen to have a change of style…
“In New Zealand you wait for the phone to ring… And, yes, there have been a few calls…”
Timaru-based Jock Anderson has been writing and commenting on New Zealand lawyers and New Zealand's courts for most of his career in journalism. Read more of his law-related news with a touch of humour on Jock’s website www.caseload.co.nz and on his Facebook page. Contact Jock at jockanderson123@gmail.com.