Blue Star Print New Zealand Barrister of the Year

Blue Star Print New Zealand Barrister of the Year Award

Winner: Ron Mansfield

Natasha Gould, Group Legal Manager, Blue Star Print New Zealand and Ron Mansfield, Barrister

Raising the bar, at the bar

By Craig Sisterson

In some ways it was very fitting that in a challenging year overall for clients and the profession, the premium Blue Star Print New Zealand Barrister of the Year Award went to Ron Mansfield. After all, along with his many private clients, the Auckland-based senior criminal barrister and former crown prosecutor also still chooses to play his part amongst a very challenging, and recently much-maligned, sector of the profession: legal aid lawyers.

“I’m certainly quite proud of the fact I do legal aid work,” says Mansfield, who estimates he allocates about 20-30 per cent of his workload to such public service. “Ethically and morally, I think it’s important that senior counsel involve themselves in doing legal aid work. I feel a strong commitment to looking after those who can’t necessarily afford private representation at the required level. And I think it’s important that junior and intermediate counsel see that there are senior counsel prepared to do legal aid work… I’m really tired of legal aid lawyers constantly being on the receiving end of criticism without any recognition of all the hard work we do.”

Mansfield, who one Law Awards voter described as “a leader” who “has raised the bar for professionalism in his field”, says he’s always had a passion for criminal work due to the day-to-day contact with individuals, and the ability to help people facing difficulties. Winning Blue Star Print New Zealand Barrister of the Year was “certainly a shock”, but he appreciates the recognition on behalf of his entire team. “It was good for the office, good for morale, because we certainly work very hard and long hours, in stressful situations.”
Mansfield went to the bar in 2000, following a decade working in Invercargill and Auckland firms, mostly in teams holding their region’s Crown warrants. “I certainly credit much of my success to my years at Preston Russell and Meredith Connell,” he says. “They provided me with a fantastic start, and I’m grateful to have worked for two such strong firms… good ethical firms as well.”

Young lawyers looking to build a criminal law career could do a lot worse than look to a start outside the main centres, says Mansfield. “If they’re coming straight from law school, I recommend that they look to go to a province, and work in a firm that does common law litigation – that should include criminal work. They’ll have a supportive environment to develop their skills both ethically and professionally… [T]hey’ll develop a wealth of experience and build confidence by working in a smaller area. I had a fantastic start at Preston Russell in Invercargill. I thoroughly enjoyed it – they were a completely supportive firm; they encouraged us to get experience and to become really involved in litigation… I think it’s very, very important to get personal and professional development by someone spending time with you at an early age.”

Now, as a senior member of the profession himself, Mansfield spends time with budding lawyers at their ‘early age’; he has law students on his support team as researchers – a mentoring opportunity he finds “quite refreshing”.

NZLawyer, issue 127, 11 December 2009

1st runner up: Christopher Eggleston

2nd runner up: David Goddard QC

FINALISTS:

Christopher Eggleston
David Goddard QC
Francis Cooke QC
Kelly F Quinn
Kevin Sullivan
Ron Mansfield

Criteria:
The winning barrister will:

provide excellence in client service
demonstrate excellence in the development of the law
be committed to the advancement of the reputation of the New Zealand Bar

Award Sponsor:

Blue Star Print – NZ consists of five individually branded business units offering Sheet-fed and Digital printing services. Two additional business units offer contract management, logistics, graphic design, and media integration to many of New Zealand’s largest corporations and government agencies. We specialise in printing confidential legal and corporate documents including the Budget, annual reports, and prospectuses.

Blue Star is committed to making the right decisions for NZ. That’s why at Blue Star we’re taking sustainability seriously, including the social, economic, and environmental impacts of our decisions on our business and the world we live in. We print in New Zealand. For New Zealand. That’s sustainable.

Blue Star Print is a key supplier to the legal community through two of our business units and is pleased to support the 2009 New Zealand Law Awards.