Judge David Kirkpatrick

Judge David Kirkpatrick has worked in the fields of administrative and public law generally, and resource management law in particular, since the mid-1980’s. He appeared regularly before consent authorities, the Environment Court, and the High Court. He has also appeared before the Court of Appeal, the Privy Council, and the Supreme Court. From 1994 to 2004 he was a partner in the local government and environment practice area of Simpson Grierson, acting as a primary legal advisor to a number of local authorities in the Auckland region on public administration, the regulation of public utilities and resource management. He also acted for a wide range of corporate clients, incorporated societies and individuals in those fields. From 2004 to 2014 he was a barrister and in 2008-09 he acted as counsel assisting the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance. He was appointed as an Environment Judge in 2014 and was the chairperson of the Auckland Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel. He was appointed as the Chief Environment Court Judge in 2020. He is a contributing author of the chapter on land use and subdivision in the text Environmental and Resource Management Law, now in its seventh edition.