David Collins (born 18 March 1954) is a Judge of the

Court of Appeal of New Zealand The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather t ...

. He was the

Solicitor-General of New Zealand The Solicitor-General (or Solicitor General) is the second law officer of state in New Zealand. The Solicitor-General is also head of the Crown Law Office, that comprises lawyers employed to represent the Attorney-General in court proceedings in ...

from 1 September 2006 to 15 March 2012, before being made a judge of the High Court in 2012.

Education

Collins graduated from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

with a

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

(Hons) (1st Class) in 1975 and an LL.M. in 1976. He was awarded an

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

by Victoria University in 1993. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Law at Victoria University. He also has a LL.M. Judicial Studies from

Duke University School of Law Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit th ...

in the United States.

Professional qualifications

Collins was admitted to the New Zealand Bar in 1976. He was admitted to the State of Victoria Bar and the High Court of Australia Bar in 1986. He was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 2000.

Career

Upon graduating from Victoria University in 1975, Collins took up a three-month research position at Rhyne & Rhyne in Washington DC. After this role concluded he returned to New Zealand and completed his LL.M. He commenced a two-year clerkship for the Judges of the High Court and

between 1976 and 1978. In 1979, Collins commenced practicing law in Wellington as a solicitor for

Chapman Tripp Chapman Tripp is New Zealand's largest commercial law firm. It is considered one of the "big three" law firms along with Russell McVeagh and Bell Gully. Established in New Zealand in 1875, it now has around 60 partners and roughly 200 legal staff ...

. In 1982 he was admitted to partnership in a firm that subsequently merged and is today known as Rainey Collins. He remained at the firm until 1995. In 1996 he left practice to become a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

. During this period he conducted several appeals before the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in London. He took silk in 2000. Prior to his appointment as Solicitor-General, Collins was Chair of the Accident Compensation Commission, and Chair of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. Collins has served terms as President of the Wellington District Law Society, Vice-President of the

New Zealand Law Society The New Zealand Law Society ( mi, Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa) is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand. Membership of the society is voluntary, ...

, and Executive Vice President and member of the Board of Governors, World Association of Law and Medicine. In 2006, Collins was appointed Solicitor-General. He remained in this role until he was appointed a High Court Judge. He appeared as senior counsel in over 30

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and Privy Council decisions, including:
''North_Shore_City_Council_v_Attorney-General_[The_Grange
/nowiki>''.html" ;"title="he Grange">''North Shore City Council v Attorney-General [The Grange
/nowiki>''">he Grange">''North Shore City Council v Attorney-General [The Grange
/nowiki>'' 0111 NZLR 296 (SC)
''Chapman v Attorney-General''
011NZSC 110
''R v Gwaze''
0103 NZLR 734 (SC)
''Saxmere Company Ltd v Wool Board Disestablishment Company Ltd''
0101 NZLR 35, 76 (SC) *''Bain v R''

009 009 may refer to: * OO9, gauge model railways * O09, FAA identifier for Round Valley Airport * 0O9, FAA identifier for Ward Field, see List of airports in California * British secret agent 009, see 00 Agent * BA 009, see British Airways Flight 9 * ...

UKPC 4 *''Phipps v RACS''

000 Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * "Triple Zero", a song by AFI (band), AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your ...

2 NZLR 513 (PC) *''R v Ramstead''

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: T ...

2 AC 92,

1 NZLR 513 (PC) *''Treaty Tribes Coalition and Others v Urban Maori Authority''

997 Year 997 (Roman numerals, CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first ...

1 NZLR 513 (PC) Collins has authored a textbook, and has been a contributory author for three other texts. He has written a number of articles.

Interests

Collins has been actively involved in mountaineering and tramping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, David High Court of New Zealand judges Victoria University of Wellington alumni 1954 births New Zealand King's Counsel Solicitors-General of New Zealand Living people