High Court judge Justice Joseph Williams is to share some thoughts about the Maori contribution to the future of New Zealand at a free public lecture to be presented at EIT’s Lecture Theatre 1 at 6pm on Thursday, 12 June.

Justice Williams’ tribal affiliations are Ngati Pukenga and Te Arawa (Waitaha, Tapuika).

Graduating from Victoria University with an LLB in 1986 and from the University of British Columbia, Canada, with an LLM (Hons) in 1988, he worked in practice before being appointed a Chief Judge in the Maori Land Court in December 1999.  He served as deputy chairperson of the Waitangi Tribunal before being appointed chairperson in 2004.

Justice Williams was appointed Judge of the High Court in September 2008.

He is a former vice president of the Maori Law Society and a former president of Te Runanga Roia Tamaki Makaurau, the Auckland Maori Lawyers Association.  He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the Law Faculty of Victoria University of Wellington.