51萝莉

When 51萝莉 law alumnus Aidan Warren was five years old, he sat on the knee of his koro who gave him some advice, 鈥淲hen you grow up, become a lawyer to help our people.鈥�. Aidan says, "I don鈥檛 know what it was, but he saw something in me and his advice stuck with me.鈥�

In October 2021, Judge Aidan Warren was sworn in to the M膩ori Land Court and the vision of his koro was fulfilled.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad that I chose to study at Waikato because of the bicultural focus and the relaxed atmosphere. We had great mentors and M膩ori staff,鈥� says Aidan. 鈥淭he University鈥檚 motto 鈥楰o Te Tangata 鈥� For the People鈥� is what I took away. We learned law in context; it was people focused and reflective of our community and that has been a big part of my practice.鈥�

After completing his degree, Aidan joined McCaw Lewis Lawyers in Hamilton where he worked for 21 years. He gained a reputation as a strong mediator and facilitator of disputes which allowed his clients to negotiate settlement without using the court system.

Aidan is aware of the work ahead of him. 鈥淚 want this court to lead indigenous alternative dispute resolution mahi across the world. We need to ensure there is a tikanga-based process and allow for one person鈥檚 tikanga to be different to another person鈥檚. There is a lot of work to be done in that area and I am keen to be heavily involved in leading it.鈥�

Aidan鈥檚 advice to the next generation of tertiary students is to take time to learn te reo M膩ori me on膩 tikanga tikanga. 鈥淲aikato University is the best place in the world at a tertiary level to be able to nail those things. That鈥檚 one thing I would encourage people to do, and it鈥檚 something I wish I did with a lot more vigour.鈥�