Walter Mervyn Rodgers, 1925 - 1994

By Alan Ritchie Walter Mervyn Rodgers was the New Zealand Law Society’s Secretary-General from 1971, coming to Wellington from his legal practice in Invercargill. He served as Secretary-General under seven Presidents – Denis McGrath, Stanley Ton, Guy Smith, Lester Castle, Laurie Southwick QC, Tom Eichelbaum QC and Bruce Slane. On his retirement…

Keith Hadfield, 1931 - 1994

Christchurch practitioner Keith Hadfield died last month, aged 63. A member of the New Zealand Law Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal from November 1985 to 1991, he was also actively involved in district law society affairs. He was admitted to the partnership of Papprill Frampton in 1961 and acted for a wide variety…

Victor Gerald Spiller MBE, 1909 - 1995

Former President of the Canterbury District Law Society and member of the NZLS Council, Victor Gerald Spiller, died in Christchurch in July, aged 86. He had been awarded an MBE in 1977 in recognition of his services to sport, the community and law. Mr Spiller was admitted as a solicitor of the…

Paul Darvell, 1947 – 1995

New Zealand lost one of its foremost commercial lawyers when Paul Darvell died on 7 November 1995 aged 48 years. Paul was born in Wellington, and educated at Wellington College and Victoria University. He initially worked as a solicitor for Chapman Tripp & Co before going to Auckland in 1972 and…

Judge Derek Sydney Castle, 1924 – 1995

By Judge Finnigan, Employment Court Judge Derek Castle died in Wellington on 15 November 1995. He was appointed nearly 16 years ago to what was then the Arbitration Court, later to become the Labour Court and then the Employment Court. I shared with him the distinction of presiding in all three…

Sir Desmond Sullivan, 1920 – 1996

By Judge Fergus Paterson Sir Desmond Sullivan died unexpectedly but peacefully at his home in Whites Line East, Lower Hutt, on 7 September 1996 aged 76 years. He and Lady (Phyl) Sullivan had moved there from their family home in Seatoun Heights when he retired in 1985. Their lovely bush style…

Justice Neil William Williamson, 1938 – 1996

By Brian Fay Neil Williamson, High Court Judge, born 1938 at Christchurch, died 15 February 1996 at Auckland, aged 57. Catholic, Husband, Father, Friend, Lawyer, Judge – a few words which give some insight into the man, Neil William Williamson, whose untimely death occurred recently. Neil, as he was known and loved by…

Charles Pierrepont Hutchinson QSO, MBE, QC, 1906 - 1997

Charles Pierrepont Hutchinson – believed to be the country’s oldest Queen’s Counsel – died in Auckland on 5 August 1997 aged 91. Born in Wiltshire in the United Kingdom, Mr Hutchinson immigrated to New Zealand in 1925, working as a farmer until he became a law student in 1936. Admitted to…

Sir Alec Leslie Haslam, 1904 - 1997

Former New Zealand Law Society Vice-President (1954-56) and Council member, Sir Alec Haslam, who died in Christchurch in April 1997, aged 93, was a judge of the old Supreme Court from 1957 until his retirement in 1976. He was knighted in 1974. Born in Carterton on 10 February 1904, Sir Alec…

John Fowler, 1966 - 1998

By Rebecca Kitteridge John Fowler, a senior associate at Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Wellington, died on 20 July 1998 at the age of 32, after a long illness. John attended St Patrick’s College in Wellington from 1979 to 1983, at which time he developed his love of language, logic and argument.…