Crown Solicitor at Auckland, Brian Dickey, has advised the Solicitor-General and his partners he intends to step-down from the role and move to the independent Bar this summer.

He will remain Crown Solicitor, overseeing the prosecution of serious crime in the Auckland region, and chair of the firm until a new Crown Solicitor is appointed by the Attorney-General and commences in the role, a process expected to take some months.

Mr Dickey has held the warrant as Crown Solicitor at Auckland for approximately eight years and has been a partner of MC for 22.

As Crown Solicitor, Mr Dickey is known for leading the prosecutions of public corruption in local government in R v Borlase, grave drug-afflicted violence in R v Blom, the murder of Grace Millane in R v Kempson and the murder of Constable Matthew Hunt and attempted murder of Constable David Goldfinch in R v Epiha.

In the early 2010s, he was prominent prosecuting finance company cases after the Global Financial Crisis, including R v Petricevic, an extremely large, highly technical and commercially complex Securities Act prosecution, in which the three defendants were convicted after a high-profile 12-week trial.

He joined MC, which has been Office of the Crown Solicitor at Auckland since 1921, in 1994, appeared before the High Court at Auckland the same year, and led his first murder trial in 2002.

Mr Dickey said it been an honour and a privilege to serve the Crown, with the authority of the Attorney General delegated to the Solicitor-General and, through that, the public as Crown Solicitor.

“None of us who prosecute serious crime at MC and the other Crown Solicitor offices ever forget the victims and whānau , who open up to us in private and in open court about the harm suffered by them or their loved ones from violent and other serious crimes.

“The New Zealand Police and many professionals who assist persons impacted by crime have my abiding respect.”

Mr Dickey thanked Solicitor-General Una Jagose QC and Deputy Solicitor-General Madeleine Laracy and her team at the Crown Law Office for their leadership, direction, professionalism and wisdom, for their unwavering support of the Crown Solicitors’ Network and for being so willing to engage with the Crown prosecutors at MC, including in finding principled results on sensitive matters.

“Nobody could do this job without a brilliant, highly experienced and superbly trained team behind them, and the Crown and I have been exceptionally well served in that regard by everyone at MC,” Mr Dickey said.

“My senior Crown team of Alysha McClintock, Brett Tantrum and Robin McCoubrey and until recently David Johnstone are the best criminal prosecutors and colleagues any lawyer could hope to work with.

“I am similarly very proud of the development of the next generation of Crown leadership in Auckland including Fiona Culliney, Henry Steele, Sam McMullan, Claire Paterson, Matthew Nathan and of all the many lawyers who conduct Crown work within my warrant region.

“As Aotearoa’s biggest litigation firm by far, MC has been in the privileged position of being able to invest more in ongoing training of the next generation of prosecutors and other litigators than any other, including in our superb new training court room in our new MC Centre in Auckland.”

In line with its commitment to growth and ongoing generational change, MC announced last week that it has invited five new partners to join the firm in 2022/23, subject to meeting all New Zealand Law Society requirements, and appointed five new senior associates and eleven new associates.

Mr Dickey says he hopes his legacy will be having led the modernisation of MC and the practices of the Auckland Crown.

“Over the last eight years, MC has worked to give meaningful effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in carrying out the warrant, begun the journey of developing a relationship with tangata whenua, tangata moana and in celebrating all the diversity of Tāmaki Makaurau in everything we do.

“From Te Kuhunga in secondary schools through to constant on-job training, we have created authentic pathways to serve the Crown for people of all genders, orientations, faiths and cultures.

“The partnership looks forward to continuing to serve both the Crown and the whole community. Our ongoing modernisation will be maintained and enhanced by all those who follow me at MC.”

ENDS

Inquiries: Jenna Purdy | Executive Assistant

Ph: +64 021 306 151

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