Editors-in-Chief – 2024 Edition

Romy Wales
Romy Wales is a solicitor in the litigation team at Chapman Tripp, where she practices commercial and public litigation. She also volunteers at Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley. Romy graduated from the University of Otago in 2021 with an LLB(Hons) and a BSc majoring in Neuroscience. She began her career as a judges' clerk at Te Kōti Matua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the Auckland High Court). Romy's areas of interest include access to justice, the experiences of women and rainbow communities in the law, and public law.

Romy joined the Journal in 2022 as an Associate Editor, and was one of the Deputy Editors for the 2023 edition. She is excited to get into another year with the Journal, and looking forward to engaging with the wealth of feminist legal scholarship.

Rachel Bedggood
Rachel is a criminal prosecutor at Luke Cunningham Clere in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Before that she was a Judge’s Clerk at the Court of Appeal | Te Koti Pira O Aotearoa. While in both those roles she has developed a passion for improving criminal justice outcomes, especially for women and members of marginalised groups, who often lack the resources or support necessary to navigate the justice system.

Rachel’s involvement with the Journal began in 2023 when she took on the role of co-Deputy Editor. She is excited to be returning as one of three Editors-in-Chief in 2024 and continuing her involvement in the valuable mahi of the Journal. Rachel strongly believes in the importance of having law journal here in Aotearoa which is dedicated to supporting legal research tackling issues of gender justice.

Nicole Browne
Nicole is a Senior Solicitor at the Office of Human Rights Proceedings. She is a human rights litigator specialising in sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Her particular interest is in intersectionality and access to justice for Māori, trans and migrant women. She has written for the New Zealand Law Journal on the topic of sexual harassment under the Human Rights Act 1993.

Nicole graduated with an LLB(Hons) in 2018 and started her career at Russell McVeagh. She is originally from Mangawhai, where her whānau is still based.

Nicole has followed the work of the Journal since its inception and feels privileged to contribute to its kaupapa and mahi. She is excited to work with a passionate and impressive team to platform authors who develop Aotearoa’s literature on gender-based justice issues.

Kaupapa Māori Editors

Rhianna Morar
Rhianna hails from Ngāti Porou (Te Whānau a Ruataupare), Tapuika (Ngāti Moko) and Gujarat. She is passionate about increasing Māori authorship and has published works in the Victoria University Law Review, Māori Law Review and the NZWLJ. Rhianna is currently a Lawyer at Bell Gully, having previously worked at a kaupapa Māori law firm. Outside of this, Rhianna is also a member of Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa - the Māori Law Society.

Nerys Udy
Nerys (Ngāi Tahu) is a junior barrister at Thorndon Chambers, and previously clerked for Chief Justice Winkelmann at the Supreme Court. She works across a wide range of civil practice areas and has a particular interest in Treaty issues and indigenous and human rights.

Aroha Fletcher
Aroha (Tuhoe, Ngāti Awa) is a barrister and solicitor with Stace Hammond that specialises in family law. She assisted the Royal Commission's inquiry into abuse in State care and in the cafe of faith-based institutions. Aroha graduated in 2012 and received her Masters of Laws in 2014. She was previously a Judge’s Clerk for the Principal Family Court Judge of New Zealand.

Deputy Editors

Noa Eliahu
Noa is a fourth year law commerce and law student at the University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau who is passionate about empowering women, having the privilege of mentoring young students under the University's Women in Law and Women in Business mentoring programmes. She is now overseeing the creation of an additional mentoring programme to help underprivileged college students connect with industries and students to explore and discover their career paths, and is also involved research and editing for the NZLSA submissions and research subcommittee. 

Sophie Dixon
Sophie is a Judge’s Clerk at the Wellington High Court | Te Kōti Matua o Aotearoa. She graduated from Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka in 2023 with a LLB/BA majoring in English Literature. Sophie is excited to be working with the Journal this year and is committed to publishing legal scholarship that platforms rainbow and disabled wāhine. At university, she won the Feminist Moot and the Rainbow Moot, and worked as the Sustainability and Wellbeing Officer for the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association. Sophie is looking forward to working with the wider Editorial team. She was a Student Editor for the New Zealand Law Reports and an Assistant Student Editor for the VUW Law Review. In her spare time, she enjoys starting craft projects, going to book club and watching every show Shonda Rhimes has produced.

Managing Editor and Engagement Manager

Sonia Pinto – Managing Editor
Sonia is an Auckland-based Barrister and Solicitor in the litigation team for the Inland Revenue where she mainly does criminal tax prosecutions. She is currently studying towards her L.L.M with a specialization in criminal law.

Sonia began her career as a criminal registrar at the North Shore District Court, she then jumped straight into criminal defence work before turning to prosecution. She has a keen interest in social justice issues, the experiences of women in the field and access to justice in the area of criminal law.

She is the current convener of the Auckland Young Lawyers group and writes case notes of public interest for the Law Association. She is also a member of the New Zealand Asian Lawyers group.

Shannon Beardsley – Engagement Manager
Shannon has over 15 years’ experience in community development working primarily for non-governmental and not for profit organisations. She is qualified in Career Counselling, Project Management and Mental Health & Addiction Support. Most recently, Shannon has completed her LLB, and has begun her Masters this year.

Advocacy Manager

Sophie Vreeburg – Advocacy Manager
Sophie is a Solicitor and Crown Prosecutor at Meredith Connell. In this role she has developed a passion for improving justice outcomes and oral advocacy, spending most weeks on her feet in the busy District Court.

This passion was the focus of her contributions to the NZLS Independent Review, Family Violence Amendment Bill and the Victims of Sexual Violence Bill during her time as an Advocacy team member in 2023.

Whilst at University in Tāmaki Makaurau, she was the director of the Equal Justice Project, a pro bono and student-led charity focused on social equality, inclusivity and access to justice. Sophie hopes to draw on this experience and build on the Journal’s scholarship by increasing the accessibility and reach of its law reform and other educational initiatives, including the launch of its first podcast series.