New Family Court Judge appointed

New Family Court Judge appointed

Hamilton lawyer Lex de Jong has been appointed a Family Court Judge, Attorney-General Michael Cullen announced today.

Mr de Jong will be sworn in on 18 May and will sit in Auckland.

Mr de Jong has been in sole practice since 2001, having previously worked for McKinnon & Co in Hamilton since his admission to the bar in 1981. He had been a partner of the firm since 1984.

Since the late 1980s he has specialised almost exclusively in family law though before that he had done a range of civil litigation, tribunal and criminal work. He has acted as counsel for the child since the mid 1980s and since 1994 has been engaged by the New Zealand Central Authority to act in respect of Hague Convention matters. He has made numerous contributions to texts and conference and workshop presentations on family law matters.

Mr de Jong's considerable community work has included providing pro bono legal advice and support to various local schools and Te Whakaruruhau (Hamilton Women's Maori Refuge) as well as to the Rudolf Steiner Trust. He also served as a past treasurer, secretary and chairman of the Trust for over 10 years. In addition he has been a member of a multi-disciplinary sexual abuse protocol committee for the Catholic Church since 1993 and convenor of the group for the past 7 years.

ENDS