Venkat Raman
Auckland, December 22, 2020
Mai Chen, Managing Partner , Chen Palmer: Key appointments
Public Law Firm Chen Palmer Managing Partner Mai Chen has announced the promotion of Leo Donnelly as Partner, subject to the approval of the New Zealand Law Society.
He joined the Firm as Special Counsel in July 2018 and was elevated to the role of Principal of its Auckland office in August 2019.
Ms Chen also announced three other key appointments today.
They included former Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill as Special Counsel, former Investment Accountant and Litigation Lawyer Jonathan Sathiendrakumar as Intermediate Litigation Associate and former Investigator and Principal Advisor at the Office of Ombudsman Antonia Di Maio as Principal Advisor to the firm and Principal Report Writer for the Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business, which was established by Ms Chen about seven years ago.
While Mr Sathiendrakumar will take charge on January 18, 2021, Mr Hill and Ms Di Maio will join the Firm on February 1, 2021.
Leo Donnelly (Partner)
About Leo Donnelly
Leo Donnelly was an Ombudsman from 2016 to 2018, prior to which he served as Deputy Ombudsman, Assistant Ombudsman, Senior Investigating Officer, Investigating Officer at the Office of the Ombudsman, and Parliamentary Counsel Office.
He with LLB degree from the Victoria University of Wellington and was admitted to the High Court of New Zealand in 1981.
Ms Chen said that Mr Donnelly has been advising corporations and businesses, government agencies, statutory bodies, local government, education providers, employers and unions, and individuals on how to achieve fair, just and transparent outcomes through the Ombudsmen Act, the Official Information Act, the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, the Protected Disclosures Act, the Privacy Act and other legislation.
“Mr Hill and Mr Donnelly will strengthen the Firm’s depth of expertise in Public and Administrative Law, Health Law, Information Law, Regulatory Law, investigations and reviews, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi expertise,” she said.
Anthony Hill (Special Counsel)
About Anthony Hill
Anthony Hill, who was Health and Disability Commissioner until August 2020, was Deputy Director General of Health overseeing DHB funding and performance of the New Zealand Health and Disability system, and Chief Legal Counsel at the Ministry of Health.
His earlier assignments were as Solicitor for the Ministry of Commerce and private law practice. He graduated with Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce degrees at the University of Canterbury and completed a Master of Laws at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Antonia Di Maio (Principal Advisor and Principal Report Writer)
About Antonia Di Maio
Antonia Di Maio brings with her 15 years of experience advising New Zealand Ombudsmen on the exercise of their functions, and standards of good public administration, decision making and dispute resolution.
“She has also worked for the Scottish Information Commissioner as a Freedom of Information officer. Antonia is a lawyer with particular expertise in the application of the Official Information Act (OIA) and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), and how they interact with other legislation such as the Privacy Act and the Public Records Act,” Ms Chen said.
She said that Di Maio has significant expertise in the application of information law tools in resolving complaints and disputes turning on the right to natural justice and procedural fairness, such as often arise in the Education and Health sectors.
“Ms Di Maio has advised agencies dealing with tricky OIA issues and developing OIA policies and procedures. She has also provided training to agencies on the application of the OIA and how to implement effective OIA systems to promote the accountability of Ministers and public sector officials and the ability of citizens to participate in the making and administration of laws and policies that affect them,” Ms Chen said.
In recent years, Di Maio has been instrumental in the Chief Ombudsman’s programme to develop authoritative and accessible guidance for agencies on the application of the OIA and complaint resolution.
“Ms Antonia will strengthen the expertise and experience at Chen Palmer of Public Law, Public Law Tools, investigations and inquiries, and knowledge of government and its processes, and at the Superdiversity Institute,” Ms Chen said.
Jonathan Sathiendrakumar (Intermediate Litigation Associate)
About Jonathan Sathiendrakumar
Jonathan Sathiendrakumar is an Investment Accountant turned Litigation Lawyer.
A graduate in Commerce (Finance & Economics) from the University of Sydney and a Juris Doctor from The University of Technology, Sydney, he was admitted to the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory in 2014, the High Court of Australia in 2015 and went on to cross qualify in England and Wales under the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme and was admitted to the Senior Courts of England and Wales in 2018.
He was in private practice at a boutique commercial litigation firm in Sydney, Australia before moving to the United Kingdom, where he worked at the country’s magic circle firm; Linklaters LLP in their litigation team, primarily dealing with the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and a large scale multinational white collar crime matter involving the misappropriation of funds from 118 banks to the sum of 9.2 billion dollars.
Prior to joining Chen Palmer, Mr Sathiendrakumar was a Litigation Lawyer at United Kingdom’s Government Legal Department (GLD), responsible for defending and advising the government in over 180 public law matters, primarily judicial review claims against government decisions in the Upper Tribunal, Administrative Court and Court of Appeal.
“Mr Sathiendrakumar strengthens the expertise and experience at Chen Palmer of public law litigation and judicial review,” Ms Chen said.
