One day you're doing some landscaping in your backyard, the next you're facing prosecution for an offence under the Resource Management Act.

There's all sorts of unsuspected ways you can be caught by the law, but there's way to escape it too. Tauranga-based litigator Tim Conder has recently been nominated for the New Zealand Rising Stars List 2023 and thrives off problem solving in the courtroom. 'It's your job to try and persuade someone that your way of seeing the world is right – and that's something I've always really enjoyed.”

With a focus on public law and local government, Tim assisted has clients to get critical workers out of Auckland during Covid-19 lockdowns, through to helping someone avoid conviction for digging on their property. 'We had a case recently to do with someone who had been hand-digging holes in their own garden but it turns out that it had a heritage overlay, so it was unlawful for them to do that.”

Cases like this is when Tim uses his legal expertise to get a client an outcome known as a ‘discharge without conviction'. 'That's where the court recognises that even though you might be technically guilty of the offence – it wouldn't be fair for you to be convicted.” In the case of the backyard digger, Tim says: 'The court recognised that the impact on that family having a conviction for the offence would actually be quite drastic”. What a relief!

Having worked as a lawyer at Holland Beckett Law since 2016, it's the 32 years-old's creativity in court that's seen him recognised has one of New Zealand's rising stars.

He says his job is about using the 'procedural toolbox and finding ways to navigate it that are a little bit unusual but mean the court has the option of giving an outcome that's surprising, that's a little bit different to what's normal but which better meets the needs of everyone involved”.

'It's the ability to say to the judge: ‘Look there's a way through this that doesn't have to involve just throwing the book at this person and giving them a conviction'.”

If you ever need help getting out of a backyard pickle, or legal advice, email Tim at: https://hobec.co.nz/people/tim-conder.