# List of King's and Queen's Counsel in New Zealand

The office of King's Counsel was established in New Zealand in 1907. During the reign of a male sovereign, appointees are called King's Counsel, and this applied from 1907 to 1952 during the reign of Edward VII (1907–1910), George V (1910–1936), Edward VIII (1936), and George VI (1936–1952). During Elizabeth II's reign (February 1952 – September 2022), new appointees were called Queen's Counsel and living King's Counsel became Queen's Counsel. Forty-three King's Counsel had been appointed before 1952. When King Charles III ascended the throne on 9 September 2022 (New Zealand Time), living Queen's Counsel automatically became King's Counsel.
Appointments in New Zealand can be made annually by the Governor-General acting on behalf of the sovereign. Recommendations are made by the Attorney-General with concurrence by the Chief Justice. When the first ten appointments were made in June 1907 by Chief Justice Sir Robert Stout, two were from Auckland, four were from Wellington, two were from Christchurch, and two were from Dunedin. The first King's Counsel to die was Thomas Joynt on 5 September 1907, less than three months after his appointment; Joynt had been the senior member of the bar in the country.
Of the 108 years since 1907 (as of 2015), there have been 40 years in which no appointments were made. There have been 364 warrant holders so far.
The first women appointed to the office were Sian Elias and Lowell Goddard in 1988.

## List of office holders

The following is a complete list of the office holders, based on the list maintained by the Crown Law Office plus one person (Claude Weston) who, according to the Law Society, is missing on the official list. Another person who is missing from the official list is Justice Warwick Gendall, who took silk in June 1996 and was appointed to the High Court later that year.
| Name | Year appointed | Location |
| Frederick Baume | 1907 | Auckland |
| Francis Bell | 1907 | Wellington |
| Martin Chapman | 1907 | Wellington |
| John Findlay | 1907 | Wellington |
| John Hosking | 1907 | Dunedin |
| Thomas Joynt | 1907 | Christchurch |
| Charles Skerrett | 1907 | Wellington |
| Saul Solomon | 1907 | Dunedin |
| Walter Stringer | 1907 | Christchurch |
| Joseph Tole | 1907 | Auckland |
| John F. M. Fraser | 1910 | Dunedin |
| Thomas Cotter | 1911 | Auckland |
| Fred Earl | 1912 | Auckland |
| Alexander Gray | 1912 | Wellington |
| Charles Morison | 1912 | Wellington |
| John Reed | 1912 | Auckland |
| John Salmond | 1912 | Wellington |
| George Raymond | 1913 | Christchurch |
| Frederick Wilding | 1913 | Christchurch |
| William MacGregor | 1915 | Dunedin |
| Oliver Samuel | 1919 | New Plymouth |
| Michael Myers | 1922 | Wellington |
| Hubert Ostler | 1925 | Auckland |
| Arthur Fair | 1925 | Wellington |
| Thomas Wilford | 1929 | Wellington |
| Alf Hanlon | 1930 | Dunedin |
| Harold Johnston | 1930 | Wellington |
| John Callan | 1934 | Dunedin |
| Alexander Johnstone | 1934 | Auckland |
| Claude Weston | 1934 | Wellington |
| Henry Cornish | 1934 | Wellington |
| Humphrey O'Leary | 1935 | Wellington |
| Philip Cooke | 1936 | Wellington |
| Wilfrid Sim | 1939 | Christchurch |
| Herbert Evans | 1946 | Wellington |
| Rex Mason | 1946 | Auckland |
| John O'Shea | 1946 | Wellington |
| Ossie Mazengarb | 1947 | Wellington |
| Alfred North | 1947 | Auckland |
| Alf Neill | 1950 | Dunedin |
| Howard Richmond | 1952 | Auckland |
| Leonard Leary | 1952 | Auckland |
| Alexander Turner | 1952 | Auckland |
| Clifton Webb | 1954 | Auckland |
| Vincent Meredith | 1957 | Auckland |
| Richard Wild | 1957 | Wellington |
| Reginald Hardie Boys | 1958 | Auckland |
| Lance Tompkins | 1958 | Hamilton |
| Nigel Wilson | 1958 | Auckland |
| Campbell Spratt | 1961 | Wellington |
| Ronald Davison | 1963 | Wellington |
| Robin Cooke | 1964 | Wellington |
| Charles Hutchinson | 1964 | Auckland |
| Edgar Bowie | 1965 | Christchurch |
| David Beattie | 1965 | Auckland |
| Muir Chilwell | 1965 | Auckland |
| John White | 1966 | Wellington |
| Peter Hillyer | 1967 | Auckland |
| Frank O'Flynn | 1968 | Wellington |
| Lloyd Brown | 1968 | Auckland |
| Graham Crossley | 1970 | Palmerston North |
| Laurie Southwick | 1970 | Auckland |
| Richard Savage | 1970 | |
| Paul Temm | 1971 | |
| Peter Mahon | 1971 | |
| Maurice O'Brien | 1971 | |
| Ian Barker | 1973 | |
| Martyn Finlay | 1973 | |
| Bob Edgley | 1973 | |
| Bill Shires | 1973 | |
| Stewart Lusk | 1973 | |
| Edward Somers | 1973 | |
| David Tompkins | 1974 | |
| John Wallace | 1974 | |
| Don Inglis | 1976 | |
| Maxwell Helier Vautier | 1976 | |
| Brian McClelland | 1976 | |
| Robert Alexander Adams-Smith | 1978 | |
| Rodney Gallen | 1978 | |
| Thomas Eichelbaum | 1978 | |
| Peter Penlington | 1978 | |
| Robert Smellie | 1979 | |
| Colin Nicholson | 1979 | |
| John Henry | 1980 | |
| Paul Neazor | 1981 | |
| Alan Houston | 1981 | |
| Anthony Hearn | 1981 | |
| Richard John Craddock | 1981 | |
| Ted Thomas | 1981 | |
| Anthony Arthur Travers Ellis | 1981 | |
| Simon Grant Lockhart | 1982 | |
| John Edward Shepherd Allen | 1983 | |
| Peter Salmon | 1983 | Auckland |
| Barrie Atkinson | 1983 | |
| David Baragwanath | 1983 | |
| Thomas Gault | 1984 | |
| Andrew McGechan | 1984 | |
| Anthony Molloy | 1984 | |
| Ralph Wylie | 1985 | |
| Colin Pidgeon | 1985 | Auckland |
| Roderick Joyce | 1985 | |
| Robert Fisher | 1985 | Hamilton |
| Don Mathieson | 1986 | |
| John Gibson | 1986 | |
| Mike Bungay | 1986 | |
| James Farmer | 1986 | Auckland |
| Noel Anderson | 1986 | |
| Alan Lough Hassall | 1987 | |
| Gerald Stewart Tuohy | 1987 | |
| Peter Williams | 1987 | |
| David Williams | 1987 | |
| Alan Galbraith | 1987 | Auckland |
| John McGrath | 1987 | |
| Peter Jenkin | 1988 | Wellington |
| Douglas White | 1988 | |
| Sian Elias | 1988 | |
| Colin Stuart Withnall | 1988 | |
| Lowell Goddard | 1988 | |
| Michael Henry Walkinton Lance | 1988 | |
| Hugh Williams | 1988 | |
| Walter Iles | 1989 | |
| John Laurenson | 1989 | New Plymouth |
| Nigel Hampton | 1989 | Christchurch |
| George Patterson Barton | 1990 | |
| Stephen Pendrill Charles | 1990 | |
| Colin Carruthers | 1990 | |
| Les Atkins | 1990 | Palmerston North |
| John Fogarty | 1990 | |
| Paul Thomas Cavanagh | 1991 | |
| John Oswald Upton | 1991 | |
| Michael Robert Camp | 1991 | |
| Anthony Alan Lusk | 1991 | |
| Julian Grosvenor Miles | 1991 | |
| William Young | 1991 | |
| Robert Chambers | 1992 | |
| Raynor John Asher | 1992 | |
| Raymond Bruce Squire | 1992 | |
| Barry Paterson | 1993 | |
| John Wild | 1993 | Wellington |
| John Haigh | 1993 | |
| John Priestley | 1994 | |
| Rodney Eric Harrison | 1994 | |
| Graham Panckhurst | 1994 | |
| Rhys Harrison | 1994 | |
| John Francis Lyons | 1994 | |
| Frank Hortin Callaway | 1994 | |
| David Shavin | 1994 | |
| Kenneth Keith | 1994 | |
| Chris McVeigh | 1995 | |
| Gary James Judd | 1995 | |
| Rodney Hansen | 1995 | |
| Hugh Rennie | 1995 | |
| Bradley Harle Giles | 1995 | |
| Michael Reed | 1995 | |
| Judith Ablett-Kerr | 1995 | |
| Paul East | 1995 | |
| Charles Augustine Sweeney | 1995 | |
| Warwick Gendall | 1996 | Wellington |
| Stuart Bruce Walton Grieve | 1996 | |
| Bill Wilson | 1996 | |
| Tony Randerson | 1996 | Auckland |
| Austin Forbes | 1996 | |
| Nick Davidson | 1996 | |
| John Billington | 1996 | |
| Paul Davison | 1996 | |
| Denese Rosemary Bates | 1996 | |
| Howard Carisbrooke Keyte | 1997 | |
| John Grayson Rowan | 1997 | |
| David McCaw Wilson | 1997 | |
| Lyn Stevens | 1997 | |
| Terence Arnold | 1997 | |
| Brendan Brown | 1997 | |
| Helen Ann Cull | 1997 | |
| Kevin Ryan | 1998 | |
| Christopher Hodson | 1998 | |
| Ian Ronald Millard | 1998 | |
| Royden Somerville | 1998 | |
| Robert John Katz | 1998 | |
| Tony Hughes-Johnson | 1998 | |
| Robert Andrew Dobson | 1998 | |
| Ailsa Patricia Duffy | 1998 | |
| Paul Heath | 1998 | |
| Mike Behrens | 1999 | |
| Noel Wallace Ingram | 1999 | |
| Rodger Haines | 1999 | |
| Kit Toogood | 1999 | |
| Kristy McDonald | 1999 | |
| Tom Weston | 1999 | |
| Peter Donald McKenzie | 2000 | |
| Viviene Heath Ullrich | 2000 | |
| David Collins | 2000 | |
| Paul Gerard Mabey | 2000 | |
| David McGee | 2000 | |
| Bruce Stewart | 2000 | |
| Mark Cooper | 2000 | |
| George Tanner | 20 May 2002 | |
| Richard Clarke | 20 May 2002 | |
| Peter Woodhouse | 20 May 2002 | |
| Andrew Brown | 20 May 2002 | |
| Donald Stevens | 20 May 2002 | |
| Robert Fardell | 20 May 2002 | |
| Edwin Wylie | 20 May 2002 | |
| Anne Hinton | 20 May 2002 | |
| Mary Scholtens | 20 May 2002 | |
| Maureen Jeanette Southwick | 2003 | |
| Grant Maxwell Illingworth | 2003 | |
| Philip James Morgan | 2003 | |
| David Goddard | 2003 | |
| Michael Grant Ring | 2004 | |
| Harry Waalkens | 2004 | |
| Miriam Dean | 2004 | |
| Francis Cooke | 2004 | |
| Tómas Kennedy-Grant | 2005 | |
| Helen Mary Aikman | 2005 | |
| David Paul Hearmon Jones | 2005 | |
| John Burrows | 2005 | |
| Brian Paul Keene | 2006 | |
| Bruce Dwight Gray | 2006 | |
| John Marshall | 2007 | |
| Bruce Andrew Corkill | 2007 | |
| Matthew Eugene Casey | 2007 | |
| Stephen John Mills | 2007 | |
| Robert Macrae Lithgow | 2007 | |
| Stephen Kós | 2007 | |
| Christopher Thomas Gudsell | 2007 | |
| Susan Wendy Hughes | 2007 | |
| Nicholas Allen Till | 2007 | |
| Deborah Chambers | 2007 | |
| Campbell Alan McLachlan | 2007 | |
| Karen Louise Clark | 2007 | |
| Geoffrey Palmer | 2008 | Wellington |
| David Jonathan Heaney | 2008 | |
| Murray Gilbert | 2008 | |
| Jack Edward Hodder | 2008 | |
| Marion Jan McCartney | 2008 | |
| Simon Moore | 2008 | Auckland |
| Christine Gordon | 2008 | |
| Chris Finlayson | 2012 | |
| Michael Heron | 2012 | |
| Philip Hall | 16 May 2013 | Christchurch |
| Terence Stapleton | 16 May 2013 | Wellington |
| Richard Fowler | 16 May 2013 | Wellington |
| Simon Jefferson | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Trevor Shiels | 16 May 2013 | Dunedin |
| Paul Dacre | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Russell Fairbrother | 16 May 2013 | Napier |
| Frances Joychild | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Nathan Gedye | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Peter Churchman | 16 May 2013 | Wellington |
| Peter Watts | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Justin Smith | 16 May 2013 | Wellington |
| Graham Kohler | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Matthew Muir | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Gillian Coumbe | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Les Taylor | 16 May 2013 | Wellington |
| Kate Davenport | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Matthew Dunning | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Philip Skelton | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| David Chisholm | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| John Pike | 16 May 2013 | Wellington |
| Christine Meechan | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Clive Elliott | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Jonathan Eaton | 16 May 2013 | Christchurch |
| Daniel McLellan | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Neil Campbell | 16 May 2013 | Auckland |
| Russell Bartlett | 2014 | Auckland |
| Stephen Bonnar | 2014 | Auckland |
| Paul David | 2014 | Auckland |
| Marie Dyhrberg | 2014 | Auckland |
| Antonia Fisher | 2014 | Auckland |
| Paul Rishworth | 2014 | Auckland |
| Paul Wicks | 2014 | Auckland |
| Prudence Steven | 2014 | Christchurch |
| Peter Whiteside | 2014 | Christchurch |
| Anita Chan | 2014 | Dunedin |
| David Laurenson | 2014 | Auckland |
| Matthew McClelland | 2014 | Wellington |
| Matthew Palmer | 2014 | Wellington |
| Paul Radich | 2014 | Wellington |
| Margaret Casey | 2015 | Auckland |
| Mark O'Brien | 2015 | Wellington |
| Richard Boast | 2015 | Wellington |
| Derek Nolan | 2016 | Auckland |
| Aaron Perkins | 2016 | Auckland |
| Kieran Raftery | 2016 | Auckland |
| David Bigio | 2016 | Auckland |
| Jane Anderson | 2016 | Auckland |
| Marc Corlett | 2016 | Auckland |
| Vanessa Bruton | 2016 | Auckland |
| Richard Raymond | 2016 | Christchurch |
| John Prebble | 2016 | Wellington |
| Kenneth Johnston | 2016 | Wellington |
| Victoria Casey | 2016 | Wellington |
| Una Jagose | 2016 | Wellington |
| John Dixon | 2017 | Auckland |
| Suzanne Robertson | 2017 | Auckland |
| Rachael Reed | 2017 | Auckland |
| Paul Borich | 2017 | Auckland |
| Adam Ross | 2017 | Auckland |
| Jenny Cooper | 2017 | Auckland |
| Simon Mount | 2017 | Auckland |
| Andrew Barker | 2017 | Auckland |
| Greg Blanchard | 2017 | Auckland |
| Campbell Walker | 2017 | Auckland |
| Grant Brittain | 2017 | Tauranga |
| James Every-Palmer | 2017 | Wellington |
| Tony Angelo | 2017 | Wellington |
| Vivienne Crawshaw | 2018 | Auckland |
| Paul Dale | 2018 | Auckland |
| Maria Dew | 2018 | Auckland |
| Bob Hollyman | 2018 | Auckland |
| Andru Isac | 2018 | Wellington |
| Fiona Guy Kidd | 2018 | Invercargill |
| James Rapley | 2018 | Christchurch |
| Belinda Sellars | 2018 | Auckland |
| Anne Stevens | 2018 | Dunedin |
| James Wilding | 2018 | Christchurch |
| Stephen Hunter | 2019 | Auckland |
| Julie-Anne Kincade | 2019 | Auckland |
| Simon Foote | 2019 | Auckland |
| Janet McLean | 2019 | Auckland |
| Nicolette Levy | 2019 | Wellington |
| Karen Feint | 2019 | Wellington |
| Len Andersen | 2019 | Dunedin |
| Jonathan Temm | 2019 | Rotorua |
| Lynda Kearns | 2021 | Auckland |
| Stephen McCarthy | 2021 | Auckland |
| Ron Mansfield | 2021 | Auckland |
| Laura O'Gorman | 2021 | Auckland |
| Fletcher Pilditch | 2021 | Auckland |
| Davey Salmon | 2021 | Auckland |
| Greg Arthur | 2021 | Wellington |
| Michael Colson | 2021 | Wellington |
| Victoria Heine | 2021 | Wellington |
| Kerryn Beaton | 2021 | Christchurch |
| Catherine Cull | 2022 | Northland |
| Bronwyn Carruthers | 2022 | Auckland |
| Nicholas Chisnall | 2022 | Auckland |
| David Cooper | 2022 | Auckland |
| Tiffany Cooper | 2022 | Auckland |
| Jason Goodall | 2022 | Auckland |
| Simon Mitchell | 2022 | Auckland |
| Andrew Butler | 2022 | Wellington |
| Stephanie Grieve | 2022 | Christchurch |
| Lisa Preston | 2022 | Christchurch |
| Judith Collins | 2023 | Auckland |
| Philip Joseph | 2024 | Christchurch |
| Philip Shamy | 2024 | Christchurch |
| Todd Simmonds | 2024 | Auckland |
| Robert Stewart | 2024 | Auckland |
| Garry Williams | 2024 | Auckland |
| Zane Kennedy | 2024 | Auckland |
| Kelly Quinn | 2024 | Auckland |
| Katherine Anderson | 2024 | Auckland |
| Wendy Aldred | 2024 | Wellington |
| Timothy Stephens | 2024 | Wellington |
| Douglas Ewen | 2024 | Wellington |
| Anne Toohey | 2024 | Christchurch |
| Sarah Armstrong | 2024 | Auckland |
| Christopher Stevenson | 2024 | Wellington |
| Daniel Kalderimis | 2024 | Wellington |
| Alanya Limmer | 2024 | Christchurch |
| Sally Gepp | 2024 | Nelson |
| Samuel Wimsett | 2024 | Auckland |
| Nura Taefi | 2024 | Auckland |