October 26, 2018

Congratulations to NZLS President-Elect Tiana Epati, first Pasifika woman president

Chen Palmer Partners, the Superdiversity Institute for Law Policy and Business, and SUPERdiverseWOMEN extends their congratulations to Tiana Epati, the New Zealand Law Society’s President-Elect

Ms Epati will be the first Pasifika female president for NZLS when she commences the role on 1 April 2019. She will also be the youngest president of the law society.

Mai Chen, Managing Partner of Chen Palmer Partners, New Zealand’s first public law specialist boutique firm, said “Ms Epati’s appointment is a watershed moment for the legal profession in New Zealand. In a profession which has challenges for women, to be an ethnic women leader can often be a double disadvantage. Ms Epati has shown how competent and able she is to rise above that and to achieve success in being appointed to this role.” 

“Her appointment signals not only a generational change, but also the cultural competence of the NZLS. I look forward to her leadership and direction in this important role” said Ms Chen.

Research in the Superdiversity Institute’s Diversity Matrix: Updating what Diversity means for Discrimination Law in the 21st Century confirms that it is typically harder for visually different women in every sphere of life, whether they are Māori women indigenous to this country or new migrants not born here.

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