NEW CHIEF JUSTICE.

Grey River Argus, 13 May 1929, Page 7

NEW CHIEF JUSTICE.

SKETCH OF HIS CAREER. The Chief Justice, M r Myers was born at Motueka on September 7, 1873, being a son of the late Mr Judah Myers, founder of the firm of Messrs J. Myers and Co. Ltd. Coming to Wellington in 1879 he was educated at the Thorn don School and Wellington College. I v was while at Thorndon School that Mr Myers first distinguished himself, for in 1885, at the age of 12, he won a primary education board, scholarship. At that time the r ewe re only six uf such scholarships awarded, and Thorndon School won the whole six, young Myers heading the list. From 1886 til! 1891 Mr -Myers was at Welling.on College. In 1887 he won a further primary education board scholarship. He also annexed various coll.ge exhibitions and scholarship 5, including the Turnbull scholarship. It was in 1892 that he embarked on his caree r in the law. for in that year he joined the staff of Messrs Bell. Gully, and Izard. In 1896 he graduated L.L.B, and in March, 1897, he was admitted by the la e Sir James Prendergast, the then Chief Justice, as a barri ter and solicitor of the Supreme Court. Ln August 1899, Mr My is joined the firm of Mcs rs Bell, Gm y, and Bell (Mr Izard having retired), and the name of the firm was altered to Messrs Bell, Gully, Bell, and Myers. In 1919 the firm was reconstituted by the ad di ion of Mr H. F. O’Leary, and the name was changed t-' that of Messrs Bell, Gully, Myers, and O ’Leary. Mi Myers remained as a member of the firm till September, 1922, when he became a King’s Counsel. Since October 1922, he has been practising on his own account as a barrister only, he being the first «nd only member of the profession to tak? silk and practise as a barrister only. Immediately afte r his admis ion to the Bar in 1897 he gained a substantial practice both a? barrister and solicitor and for many years until 1910 he took a large proportion of Crown cas's both importan criminal cases in which he appeared were the prosecutions in the murder charges of Philpott in 1898 in which he apeared as junior counsel with Mr F. H. D. (now Sir Francis) B il, and >f Ellis, in whi h appeared alone. Enjoying the confidence of the com mun.ty in a marked degree there have been but few important civil cases in the last 20 years in which M r

Myers has not appeared. In the well-, -emembered “sugar” case in 1912 and 1913 he acted in conjunction with the late Sir Charles Skerrett, and in the “flour” concerning Distributors Ltd., in J 924, he also apeared, again in association with Sir Charles Skerrett. In the Supreme Court at Dunedin, and later in the Court of Appeal, in 1921. Mr Myers, appearing with Messrs McVeigh and Johnstone, of Auckland, successfully defended the directors of the Dorninicl Portland Cement Company. Ltd. .in a claim against them by the liquidator for about £200,000 damages. Mr Myers has also had the honour of conducting cases before the Privy Council, for in 1911 he successfully appeared for the respondent in xhe case of Allardyce v. Allardyce, and in 1926 he appeared in six cases, including the “flour” case in all of which he was successful. In addition to commercial cases Mr Myers has enjoyed a considerable amount of parliamentary practice. He apeared for Mr J. B. Hine in connection with the charges made by him in 1910, the late Sir Charles Skerrett being on the other side. The hearing of these charges occupied something like 35 sittings. He has also acted as counsel in various election petitions. He was in the Stratford election petition, Hine v. Masters, in 1920, in which tb° petitioner for whom Mr Myers appeared was successful. Mr Masters, however, was returned at the new election. In the Western Maori election petition in 1923 Mr Myers and Mr H. F. O’Leary suceesfully appeared for the respondent. Sir Maui Pomare In Royal Commssions also Mr Myers has taken a prominent part, having conducted many cases, including the following:—Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers sil ing (1910), Auckland tramway brakes, Foxton wharf, North Island Main Trunk line deviation, and the sale of the Poverty Bay Meat Company’s works. One of the last civil cases in which M r Myers took part, which lasted for 18 days, was the arbitration to sc'tie the value of the undertaking of the Hawera Electric Light Company for the purpose of a proposed purchase by the South Taranaki Electric Power Board. Mr Myer acted fo r the board at th* hearing. For many years Mr Myers has been a member of The Welington District Law Society being twice vicepresident and twice president. He is also a member of the Council of the New Zealand Law Society. For one year he represented Wellington, and ever since the elevation of the late Si r Charles Skerrett to the Bench as Chief Justice he has represented Gisborne, which previously for many years Sir Charles Skerrett represented. Mr Myers has been a member for several years of the Council of Law Reporting. representing the Wellington District Law Society. lie also the foundation presdent of the New Z°aland Club. On the same day as he entered into the partnership of Messrs Bell, Gully, Bell, and Myers —namely August 2,’ 1899—Mr Myer.« married Miss Salmon, daughter of the late Hon Maur.cc" Salmon. M.L.C., of Adelaide, South Australia. Mr Myers has been pressed on various occasions to enter political life, but he has always declined. ' S