After just one year back in her home town, an Oamaru lawyer has accepted a new role in Wellington where she will be able to "make a difference on a bigger scale''.
Catriona Doyle (46), an associate at Hope and Associates in Oamaru, has been appointed an acting district court judge with a Family Court warrant and a two-year appointment to Wellington.
With 23 years of experience as a practising lawyer, specialising in family law, Ms Doyle said she had a "personal view that the judiciary should be more representative of society''.
"I can't sit here and say, 'It's a terrible thing that there aren't more female judges' and yet not put myself forward to be considered and not accept a position when I am considered,'' she said.
"Even though the timing is not great for me, in terms of having just got back to Oamaru and perhaps this being something that would be more traditionally pursued perhaps in your 50s, the opportunity has arisen and I think we do have a responsibility to be the change we want to see and to ensure that if we want more women on the bench, we've got to be prepared to be those women on the bench.''
Ms Doyle said it would be difficult to hand back her practising certificate and end her career as a lawyer - it had been "a great privilege to be invited into people's lives'' - but in her years as an advocate she had drawn a clear picture of what it meant to be a good judge.
"A good judge in my view is a 'conflict absorber','' she said.
"Someone who doesn't add to the conflict, simply takes it on, and sees through it, doesn't react to it.''
She said a good judge was "respectful and understanding'' of the situations of the people who appeared before them.
Good judges were legally competent, clear communicators and were able to "very quickly hone in on what the issues are''.
"Jurisprudence is not what I am going to be remembered for,'' she said.
"What I am hoping is that my skill and my legacy will be that I treated people well. That I did not lose my courtesy or my sense of humour and ultimately my belief is that even if people don't like the outcome, if they feel that the process has been fair and respectful to them, they are more likely to accept an outcome that is adverse to them than if they feel the process was wrong, or bullying, or diminishing.''
Ms Doyle has practised family law in the District Court and High Court, including appointments as lawyer for the child and counsel to assist the court. She has Hague Convention experience.
Judge Doyle will be sworn in on August 18 in Wellington.
Rangiora barrister and solicitor John Brandts-Giesen was also appointed an acting district court judge in Invercargill yesterday. Judge Brandts-Giesen will be sworn in on August 5 in Christchurch.
