Dr Mai Chen.
A new award aiming to encourage and reward innovative legal thinking has been established by distinguished lawyer, Otago alumna and former member of the Faculty of Law, Dr Mai Chen.
The Mai Chen Legal Innovation Award will be granted annually to the student who produces the most innovative piece of legal writing for an LLM or LLB(Hons) degree, dissertation, or a research and writing assignment for an LLB/LLB(Hons) degree. Dr Chen’s gift is for an annual award of $5,000, each year for 10 years.
The original piece of writing is one which in a meaningful way challenges or expands the boundaries of established understanding and thinking about the Law. Entries may span a variety of legal subjects and themes.
Dr Chen says that “The reason for this award is that the common law develops and evolves to remain effective in serving all in society. Gaps can arise as society changes.
“We are currently in a period of rapid change, including from artificial intelligence, the increasing numbers of indigenous and superdiverse peoples in New Zealand, climate change and global pandemics. Law reform also requires fresh thinking.
“This award encourages thinking to keep our law match-fit to meet new scenarios and to re-appraise existing scenarios where appropriate, in the light of more facts coming to light.”
The selection panel will consist of the Dean of the Faculty of Law (or their nominee) plus three senior members of the legal community nominated by the Dean, such as Judiciary or senior practitioners with a strong connection to the Faculty.
It is also hoped that the winning entry will be published in a suitable forum such as the Otago Law Review, in the year after conferment of the award.
“This is a wonderful gift from Mai, rewarding student achievement and recognising the contribution the Faculty of Law at Otago brings to legal scholarship in Aotearoa New Zealand,” says Dean of Law, Professor Shelley Griffiths.
“I am thrilled that three senior Otago alumni, Justice Miller of the Supreme Court, and Justices French and Katz of the Court of Appeal have agreed to be the inaugural judges. We look forward to awarding this prize for the first time this year.”
For more than 30 years, Dr Chen has been one of New Zealand’s foremost experts in constitutional and administrative law, and in 2023 received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Otago for services to the legal profession.
The accolade recognises her significant contribution to the practice of public and administrative law in New Zealand, and her ongoing commitment to promoting diversity within the profession, and in business and the community.
Dr Chen’s career started when she graduated from Otago with a first-class LLB(Hons) in 1986, finishing first equal in her year. During her time at Otago she also taught as an assistant lecturer before being awarded a Frank Knox fully-funded scholarship to continue her studies for a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School.
After winning the Irving Oberman prize for the best Human Rights LLM thesis at Harvard Law School, Dr Chen began an internship at the International Labour Organization in Geneva on a Harvard Human Rights Scholarship, and then become the youngest senior lecturer in law in New Zealand at that time at Victoria University of Wellington’s Faculty of Law.
In 1994, she established Australasia’s public law specialist firm with former Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Palmer KC. Dr Chen penned New Zealand’s first practice book on public law, the Public Law Toolbox, which aims to help the public understand how the Government system works.
In addition to being named a Most Influential Lawyer 2022-24, Dr Chen was placed on the Global Diversity List Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life, in the Global Diversity List 2016 (affiliated with the Global Diversity Awards, supported by The Economist), and was twice a top 10 finalist for New Zealander of the Year.
She was the inaugural chair of NZ Global Women for three years, and president of New Zealand Asian Lawyers and NZ Asian Leaders and chair of the Superdiversity Institute of Law, Policy and Business. She also sat on the Bank of New Zealand Board and served on the New Zealand Securities Commission for two terms