MAORI LAW
Through Mahi Ngatahi Law, Halliwells provides specialist Maori legal services across areas where Tikanga Maori, 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, hapu, whanau, organisations, and individuals with matters involving Maori land, resource management, marine and coastal law, tikanga, Te Tiriti issues, and related family law matters.
MAHI NGATAHI LAW
Based in Christchurch, Mahi Ngatahi Law is a specialist division of Halliwells Lawyers dedicated to advancing Maori legal perspectives and providing expertise across areas where tikanga Maori and the law intersect. As a core part of Halliwells, Mahi Ngatahi 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 Ngatahi 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 Ngatahi 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 Maori land and complex general land matters. This includes issues under Te Ture Whenua Maori 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, whanau, 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 Maori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the interests of iwi, hapu, and Maori 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, hapu, whanau, and coastal communities, and provide support where customary interests and statutory frameworks meet.
Mahi Ngatahi Law brings specialist expertise to matters involving Te Tiriti strategy, tikanga in legal contexts, indigenous rights frameworks, and the practical application of Maori 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 Maori family values, whanau 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 whanau. This includes guardianship, family violence, care arrangements, relationship property, and wider whanau considerations.
OUR MAori Law SPECIALIST
HEAD OF MAHI NGATAHI LAW