Between full-time legal work and study, three lawyers are giving back through the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal. LawTalk asked them why they have taken volunteer roles with the Journal on top busy full-time jobs and study.
Anna Piebenga, Samantha Fowler and Sophie Dixon are volunteer Co-Editors-in-Chief of this year’s edition of New Zealand Women’s Law Journal Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā Wāhine. In previous years, the three friends have also held roles as Deputy Editor (Sophie) and Associate Editors (Samantha and Anna).
Anna grew up in Rotorua and studied toward her LLB and a BA in Politics and English at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka Otago University. In 2022, she moved to Wellington where she worked as the Judge’s Clerk for Principal Family Court Judge Jacquelyn Moran for two and a half years. Anna is currently completing an Advanced LLM in International Children’s Rights at Leiden University in the Netherlands and works as a research assistant within the faculty.
Anna first became involved with the Journal in 2024 as an Associate Editor. She is excited to return to the Journal this year in her new role as Co-Editor-in-Chief, alongside Samantha and Sophie.
Anna says the Journal is an important vehicle for meaningful change – social, political and legal. “The Journal creates space for thoughtful, critical conversations about how the law can better serve women.”
“It amplifies voices that are often overlooked or under-represented in legal scholarship,” Anna says, citing her experience growing up in Rotorua where access to justice was not equally available to everyone in practice.
“Our work has the potential to influence how the law is understood, practised and reformed.”
Anna has also undertaken other volunteer work, including an UNESCO research project focused on upholding the right to education for children in Africa. She also volunteers for UNICEF and organises guest lectures on children’s rights issues at the university.
Samantha (Ngāi Te Rangi) first became a Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Journal in 2025 and is responsible for the Kaupapa Māori portfolio. The role involves engaging potential wāhine Māori contributors and supporting submissions on kaupapa Māori gender justice issues.
Samantha grew up in Auckland and went to Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka Otago University to study an LLB and BA in English and Classics. After graduating, she joined a Wellington firm that she had undertaken a summer internship with. After two years, she joined Luke Cunningham Clere in Wellington, where she is a Senior Solicitor specialising in criminal and public law litigation.
The Journal celebrated its tenth Edition in 2025, a work that Samantha is immensely proud of leading alongside the former Co-Editors-in-Chief. She says the Journal is achieving its goal of platforming and publishing feminist legal scholarship and promoting awareness about gender justice issues in the law.
Samatha sees her role as Kaupapa Māori editor as providing an opportunity to actively support wāhine Māori voices in legal scholarship. She cites a recent article written by a team of wāhine Māori solicitors at Whāia Legal: Wāhine Tū, Iwi Māori Ora The Waitangi Tribunal Mana Wahine Kaupapa Inquiry: The First 32 Years.
In what other spare time Samantha has, she is learning te reo Māori.
Sophie also grew up in Auckland and went to law school at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington which she, in part, chose because it was right across from Parliament. She was a Judge’s Clerk at Te Kōti Matua The High Court in Wellington, where she clerked for Justice McHerron and Associate Judge Skelton. At the start of 2026, she moved to Bankside Chambers in Auckland where she is a junior barrister, working for Rachael Jones and Josh Suyker.
Sophie is excited to step into the role of Co-Editor-in-Chief, having been Deputy Editor for the 2024 and 2025 editions. She considers the Women’s Law Journal has important implications for the profession and those it represents. She cites work by Mariah Hori Te Pa (now a Journal Trustee) and Alex Gordon on the troubling case of Mihi Bassett, and commentary, regrettably relevant, about how detrimental any attempt by the Courts or Parliament to define “women” would be.
“This kind of work can have a very practical impact,” says Sophie, especially when paired with the work of the Journal’s Advocacy Team.
“Sometimes laws are passed and their impact is not fully understood,” she says. “The work in the Journal is now being referred to in submissions and by decision makers across the board.”
As well as spending between five and ten hours a week contributing to the journal, Sophie is also a mentor for Pillars Ka Pou Whakahou, walking alongside tamariki with whānau in prison.
The New Zealand Women’s Law Journal Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā Wāhine is the only academic publication that is solely dedicated to publishing legal scholarship about gender justice in the law and supporting the work of women lawyers in Aotearoa New Zealand.
It focuses on supporting and publishing scholarly research about women and those marginalised because of their gender or sexual orientation. It also provides a community for women in the New Zealand legal profession.
The Journal has an Advisory Board, a Board of Trustees, and a Leadership Team comprising the leaders of the Editorial Team, Managing Editor Team and Advocacy Team. The Editorial Team is led by three Co-Editors-in-Chief and two Deputy Editors and includes between 12 and 20 editors each year.
The Journal’s Advocacy Team is led by two Co-Advocacy Managers and two Deputy Managers. It includes a team of volunteers who make submissions on law reform issues within the Journal’s scope and produce a podcast to share its scholarship more widely.
The Journal accepts submissions (articles and commentaries) throughout the year for consideration for future editions.
Anyone who is interested can contact the team at editors@womenslawjournal.co.nz, or find more information on the Journal’s LinkedIn page or website, www.womenslawjournal.co.nz.