Matt's main area of practice is civil litigation, with a focus on public law. He has a particular knowledge of, and interest in, the law and practice of judicial review. Matt also closely follows constitutional and administrative law developments in New Zealand and abroad. This helps him to advise on strategic and innovative uses of administrative law, and the opportunities they increasingly present to individuals and to entities in a variety of settings, both in and outside of the Courts and tribunals of this country.

Matt was admitted to the Bar in 2007. He holds LLB (First Class Hons.) and BA (Political Studies) degrees from Otago University. Matt also holds an LLM from Harvard Law School, where he was a Frank Knox Fellow. Prior to joining Thorndon Chambers, Matt worked as a Judges' Clerk at the High Court in Wellington, as a junior barrister at Stout Street Chambers, as a Solicitor in the Litigation team at Russell McVeagh and as a Legal Fellow at the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly. He returned to the Bar in 2011.

Matt has written a number of papers on issues of public and human rights law. He has also written papers on legal method, most notably judicial fact-finding techniques. Matt is currently writing a New Zealand handbook on Judicial Review, due to be published in 2011.

For a full CV please click on this link: Matt Smith CV

Contact
Tel: +64 4 499 6040
DDI: +64 4 460 0749
Fax: +64 4 499 6118
Email: matthew.smith@chambers.co.nz