Mary Ollivier has been appointed Acting Executive Director
of the New Zealand Law Society, from 16 January.
She takes
over from Christine Grice, who has been appointed a High
Court Judge.
Mrs Ollivier has been the Law Society’s
General Manager Regulatory since the role was established
following major changes to the regulation of lawyers in
2008.
She was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the
High Court in December 1991 after previously qualifying and
working as a legal executive. Mrs Ollivier worked as a
lawyer with law firms in Auckland and Wellington and
overseas before moving to the Wellington District Law
Society in the mid-1990s as Professional Standards Director
and then Deputy Executive Director. She moved to the New
Zealand Law Society in 2008 to assist with implementation of
the new Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006.
Mrs Ollivier
has served as Secretary of the Wellington Woman Lawyers
Association and chaired the Professional Partnership
Network. She has also been involved in legal regulatory
matters at an international level and was appointed to the
Joint Australia/New Zealand Standards Committee QR-015 to
update the ISO standard Guidelines for complaints handling
in organisations.
Christine Grice will be sworn in as a
High Court Justice on 1 February in Wellington. She was the
Law Society’s second woman President from 2000 to 2003 and
was appointed Executive Director in
2009.
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