Mātai Chambers is a criminal defence practice in Auckland. We are hiring barristers who are already admitted and ready to be in Court.
Can you sit with someone on their worst day?
Criminal defence means being present when people are terrified, ashamed, angry, or numb. A mother learning her son will not get bail. A professional watching a career disappear. A young person who made one bad decision and is facing years inside. You will be in the room for these moments. Some people find this work draining. Others find it meaningful. Know which you are.
Can you run a case when the odds are poor?
We hate convictions. Not because people should escape responsibility, but because we know what a conviction does to a life. When a client chooses to defend a charge, we prepare as though everything turns on it, because it does. That means disclosure read line by line, cross-examination built from the documents, and submissions a Judge cannot brush aside. It also means losses. Not every case can be won. Every client is entitled to someone who acts as though theirs can be.
Can you defend the indefensible?
Your clients will include professionals protecting their careers and people with long criminal histories. Some will lie to you. Some will have done terrible things. Rights do not depend on moral character. If you need to like your clients to represent them well, this is not your path.
Some will be innocent. Not all of our clients are guilty, and those cases are harder, not easier. The Crown comes with the Police, the resources, and the quiet assumption that charges are laid for a reason. Your client has you. Nothing else stands between them and a conviction for something they did not do.
Can you handle the reality?
Overnight arrests mean morning bail applications. Trials mean weekend preparation. The current work includes Crown jury trials for organised crime and drug supply, sexual violation, serious violence, and family harm, in the District Court and the High Court across Auckland, on legal aid and on private instruction. The pressure comes early. Your disclosure review might get a charge withdrawn. Your bail submissions might get someone home tonight. This either motivates or crushes people.
What the roles are
You must be admitted and hold a current practising certificate, or be able to obtain one before you start. We are not hiring a graduate this time. You will be in Court in your first week: first appearances, bail applications, case review hearings, and sentencing. Then pre-trial applications and second chair at jury trial. Then your own judge-alone trials and, in time, your own files.
The foundation work comes with it, not instead of it: disclosure review, chronologies, research, briefs of evidence, prison visits. Nobody here is carried, and nobody is left to sink.
What we offer
There are two roles. One works with Gowan Duff and his team. The other with Quentin Duff and his team. Both cover every aspect of criminal defence. The juniors in chambers who started on first appearances are now running their own trials. That is the trajectory. Progression comes from demonstrated capability, not years served. Real courtroom skills developed through actual practice. Mentorship, not micromanagement. The work is demanding, and chambers is now eight people, so you will not face it alone.
We are also open to a lawyer at the mid-level who wants to go out on their own account and is looking for chambers to do it from. That is a different conversation, and fit is the whole of it. If that is you, write to us and say so.
What we are looking for
Strong academics matter. Care for people matters more. We have seen brilliant people freeze in front of a human crisis. This work requires high emotional intelligence, genuine resilience, and the ability to connect with clients from every background. You will meet people at the worst moments of their lives. You will visit them in prison cells. You will read material that stays with you.
We need someone who leads, not follows. Who identifies what needs doing, then does it. Who solves the problem in front of them with common sense rather than a memo. Who wants to be in Court, not behind a desk. Who says so when they are out of their depth, because in this work that is a strength.
Second language capabilities, particularly Korean, Mandarin, and Pacific languages, are valuable in Auckland courts.
The roles are full time, based in Auckland.
To apply
Email [email protected] with the subject line “Application: Junior Barrister: [your name]” and attach three PDFs:
CV, including your admission date and practising certificate status.
Academic transcript (unofficial is acceptable).
Covering letter, maximum two pages.
Tell us why criminal defence. Tell us about a court appearance you have made, or the one you are most keen to make. Give an example of handling pressure or difficult people.
Applications close when the right people are found.