ABOUT JACKI
QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), Otago University, 1994
Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Otago University, 1995
Admitted as Barrister and Solicitor of High Court of New Zealand, 1995
New Zealand Law Society Litigation Skills diploma, 1998
Admitted as a Legal Practitioner of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, 2002
Admitted to the Roll of Legal Practitioners, High Court Australia, 2005
Advanced Insolvency Law & Practice II, University of Southern Queensland, 2007
Intensive Insolvency Education Program, National Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia, 2007
Admitted as a Legal Practitioner within Western Australia as an unrestricted practitioner, 2011
Numerous Continuing Legal Education courses and programmes, 1995 – ongoing
NOTABLE CASES
Lead Counsel for the Crown: Wai 2200 Waitangi Tribunal District Inquiry: Porirua ki Manawatū (2015-2021)
Lead Counsel for the Crown: Wai 2750 Waitangi Tribunal Kaupapa Inquiry into Māori Housing Policy and Services (2017-2021)
Co-Counsel for the Crown: Wai 2521 Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into Te Moutere o Motiti (Motiti Island Inquiry) (2017-2021)
Lead Counsel for the Crown in proceedings concerning Crown decisions to close kura hourua (partnership/charter schools) (2016-2018)
Co-Counsel for the Crown in relation to 16 applications for relief relating to Hauraki iwi Treaty settlements (2016-2019)
Co-Counsel for the Crown in relation to Ngāpuhi mandate / Treaty settlement negotiations (2015-2017)
Counsel for Waikatō-based iwi in on-going litigation concerning ownership of riverbed and waters of the Waikatō River (Māori Land Court, High Court) (ongoing)
Nine separate successful Federal Court determinations in favour of tribal groups across the Kimberley region of Western Australia (2012-2014)
Principal responsibility for successful negotiations and litigation on behalf of the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr people of WA against Woodside Energy Limited and the State of Western Australia over the controversial construction of an LNG (liquid natural gas) processing hub at James Price Point, WA
Bruton Holdings Pty Limited (In Liq.) v Commissioner of Taxation [2009] HCA 32
Fiduciary Ltd v Morningstar Research Pty Ltd [2007] NSWSC 432
NRMA v Parkin (series of litigation): eg [2004] NSWSC 296
Jacki attended Otago University where she completed double Law and Commerce degrees (commerce was an accounting major). In her final two years at University, Jacki was employed by the Law faculty as a research assistant and part-time library staff. She was also actively involved in the Otago University Law Students’ Association, holding a position on the Executive of that Association in 1994.
1990 - 1994
Immediately after finishing her studies, Jacki was employed by a law firm in Whakatāne in the Bay of Plenty, where she worked through until 2000. Jacki built up a busy litigation practice, principally in civil and criminal law but also with cases in the Employment and Family jurisdictions.
1995 - 2000
Moving to a large commercial firm in Wellington led to Jacki being ‘tapped on the shoulder’ for a move to Sydney where she was employed in a boutique commercial litigation practice. Over the next 10 years, Jacki worked in 3 different law practices in Sydney, obtaining post-graduate qualifications in insolvency law, and conducting cases in all levels of the courts including the High Court of Australia.
2000 - 2011
Jacki was appointed the Principal Legal Officer of the Kimberley Aboriginal Land Corporation, based in Broome in far north-west Australia. There, she managed a team of up to 21 lawyers, anthropologists and support personnel in conducting Federal litigation for aboriginal clients in the Native Title area. She successfully conducted and oversaw the determination of nine native title claims over half of the land area of the Kimberley region (an area almost double the size of the State of Victoria) and was successful in the negotiation (with pastoralists, mining companies and government departments) of protective Indigenous Land Use Agreements for multiple native title groups (‘tribes’ or ‘mobs’) across the Kimberley.
2011 - 2014
Jacki returned to Wellington where she has practiced ever since, first as a Crown Counsel with the Treaty of Waitangi Team at the Crown Law Office and, from January 2019 to present, as a barrister and solicitor. Jacki was appointed, on the personal urging of the former Governor-General and the-then Chair, Sir Anand Satyanand, as the Interim Director of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care in 2019, a position she relinquished after six months.
2014 - 2019
Jacki worked for many months on the Crown’s response to Marine and Coastal Area Act applications between 2015 and 2017, including facilitating the mapping out all of the (then) claims around the coastline of Aotearoa and undertaking analysis of the claims, and evidence pertaining thereto, of Ngāti Porou around the East Cape.
2015 - 2017
Jacki was also, while at Crown Law, appointed the facilitator (and organiser) of the Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network Litigation Skills programme, which is a litigation skills programme designed and run for Pacific Island practitioners. Jacki ran four courses from 2015-2018 inclusive.
2014 - 2019
Jacki was lead counsel for the Crown in a number of Waitangi Tribunal inquiries from 2015 until 2021, including the Porirua ki Manawatū District Inquiry and the Housing Policy and Services kaupapa inquiry. She was the principal Crown advocate on the Motiti Island Inquiry and has acted on numerous urgent inquiries.
2015 - 2021
In July 2023 Jacki joined the Public Defence Service in Wellington on a part-time (3-days per week) basis, providing legal representation to people facing criminal charges. Jacki is approved for PAL 2 matters and worked with the Hutt Valley District Court PDS team.
2023
Jacki continues to act for claimant groups in various Waitangi Tribunal Inquiries and combines this with a busy criminal practice, appearing in all three of the Wellington Courts: Porirua, Hutt Valley and Wellington.
2024 - Present Day
Contact Jacki to have a discussion about your case and how Jacki can work with you and help you put your best foot forward.
Website by Right Meow Web Design
PO Box 51159, Tawa,
Wellington 5249
CONTACT
THE LEGAL STUFF
2024 Jacki Cole