Maia Wikaira has joined Horiana-Irwin Easthope as a Director of Lower Hutt firm Whāia Legal.

Maia Wikaira. 

They will continue their working relationship, which has spanned their legal careers, and has its roots in life-long whānau connections.

Maia recently returned to Aotearoa after completing her LLM at Stanford Law School and a Legal Fellowship with the Office of Tribal Attorney for the Yurok Tribe. The Yurok Tribe is the largest federally recognised tribe in California, and Maia practised Yurok Tribal Law and represented the tribe in engagement with federal, state and other tribal governments.

Maia's overseas experience complements the existing expertise of both directors in resource management and environmental law, public law and policy, Māori governance, Māori land law, civil litigation and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.