MāORI LAW
Through Mahi Ngātahi Law, Halliwells provides specialist Māori legal services across areas where Tikanga Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and New Zealand law intersect. Led by Dr Adrienne Paul, our team takes a kaupapa-driven approach, combining technical legal expertise with cultural understanding, strategic insight, and respect for the communities we serve. We assist iwi, hapū, whānau, organisations, and individuals with matters involving Māori land, resource management, marine and coastal law, tikanga, Te Tiriti issues, and related family law matters.
MAHI NGĀTAHI LAW
Based in Christchurch, Mahi Ngātahi Law is a specialist division of Halliwells Lawyers dedicated to advancing Māori legal perspectives and providing expertise across areas where tikanga Māori and the law intersect. As a core part of Halliwells, Mahi Ngātahi combines the firm’s established infrastructure with Dr Paul’s specialist expertise to deliver high-quality, culturally grounded legal services nationwide.
Through this innovative partnership, Mahi Ngātahi Law is fully integrated into the Halliwells practice– benefiting from the firm’s experienced and established staff, resources, and specialist expertise across a broad range of legal areas. This collaboration enables greater national reach and deeper impact for clients throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
Based in Christchurch, Dr Paul heads this division as part of Halliwells’ expanding national practice. The establishment of Mahi Ngātahi Law represents a unique and forward-looking collaboration that demonstrates how bicultural partnerships can respond to the evolving needs of communities across Aotearoa.
OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Our team has experience across a wide range of Māori land and complex general land matters. This includes issues under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act, succession, trusts, incorporations, partition, alienation, title irregularities, boundary disputes, easements, adverse possession, and historical land anomalies. Our approach recognises that land matters are often deeply connected to whakapapa, identity, whānau, and long-term intergenerational interests.
We provide advocacy and legal support in resource consent processes, environmental planning, and related disputes. Our work includes matters where development, environmental protection, tikanga Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the interests of iwi, hapū, and Māori landowners intersect. We assist clients to engage effectively in planning and consenting processes, and to ensure that cultural, environmental, and legal considerations are properly recognised.
We assist with legal issues relating to the marine and coastal environment, including applications under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act, customary marine title, protected customary rights, fisheries law, and related coastal matters. We understand the importance of the moana to iwi, hapū, whānau, and coastal communities, and provide support where customary interests and statutory frameworks meet.
Mahi Ngātahi Law brings specialist expertise to matters involving Te Tiriti strategy, tikanga in legal contexts, indigenous rights frameworks, and the practical application of Māori legal principles within New Zealand’s legal system. This includes work where tikanga, public law, policy, governance, and statutory obligations overlap.
Some family law matters require cultural sensitivity and an understanding of Māori family values, whānau structures, whakapapa, and tikanga. Our approach recognises that these issues are not only legal disputes, but often involve identity, belonging, and the wellbeing of tamariki and whānau. This includes guardianship, family violence, care arrangements, relationship property, and wider whānau considerations.
OUR MĀori Law SPECIALIST
HEAD OF MAHI NGĀTAHI LAW