Graduating from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts, Luke began his career as a Judge’s Clerk at the High Court of New Zealand, where he worked on a broad range of complex civil and criminal trials and appeals. He was a public defender and then a barrister employed by Nick Chisnall KC. He has represented individuals, trusts, trustees, and companies in criminal and regulatory proceedings.

Luke holds a Master of Laws from New York University School of Law where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar. While in New York City Luke supported the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers in preparing thematic reports on contemporary international legal issues and individual claims of human rights violations such as arbitrary detention and unfair trials. He was also a Research Assistant at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, analysing specific impacts of climate change on international human rights. Luke received the NYU LLM Public Interest Fellowship, working on rights-consistent policing and public safety through strategic civil litigation and regulation of surveillance technologies and artificial intelligence. Luke then worked as a Legal Fellow at the Center for Appellate Litigation in Manhattan, to investigate and overturn wrongful convictions. Luke brings this valuable international perspective to his work.Item description

Some examples of Luke’s wins in Court include:

• Successfully arguing a conviction appeal in the Court of Appeal that the Judge duid not properly direct the jury on the defence case on an important charge

• Successfully arguing a conviction appeal in the Court of Appeal that the prosecutor had misused counterintuative evidence and the Judge had not corrected the error

• Acheiving an acquittal in a jury trial on a charge of injuring with intent to cause grevious bodily harm on the basis this was self-defence

• Securing discharge without conviction in the District Court