About us

Tom Bennion (English, Irish, Welsh) has been in the trenches of courts and tribunals since 1987 when he went from an Honours degree in Law with a BA in Histroy to taking a position as a registrar of the Waitangi Tribunal. In 1993 he broke out on his own to begin practising as a barrister sole, and started publishing the Māori Law Review in December 1993, in response to the newly enacted Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993.

In the areas of Māori land law and Treaty of Waitangi claims, Tom commands in-depth understanding of the mechanics of these systems, with clients in almost all Waitangi Tribunal inquiries to date, as well as various Māori clients in the jurisdictions of the Māori Land Court, the Environment Court, the High Court, and the Court of Appeal, as well as involvement with a number of Treaty settlement negotiations.

To date, Tom has opened more than four hundred files as a barrister-sole.

Read Tom's Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

Imogen Spurdle (English, Scotch, Kāti Mamoe, Kāi Tahu) is the firm's junior lawyer. She has a Bachelor of Laws as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Under Tom's direction and guidance, Imogen has enegretically and capably involved herself in various files ranging in type from resource consent applications, to fisheries settlement allocations, to council plan building compliance, to residential tenancy law, among others.

Read Imogen's Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

James Maddock (Irish, English, Te Āti Awa) is the office administrator, case manager and researcher. He has Bachelors of Arts in Māori Studies and Political Science (and, incidentally, a Diploma in Therapeutic Massage). James is a registered non-lawyer Legal Aid provider, and supports Tom and Imogen with their caseload. He first came on board at Bennion Law as a writer for the Māori Law Review, and has since shown a proficiency with almost any task Tom and Imogen can throw at him, from drafting to research to billing and invoicing.

Read James's Curriculum Vitae [PDF]