NEW CHIEF JUSTICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20705, 1 May 1929, Page 10

NEW CHIEF JUSTICE.

MR M. MYERS APPOINTED. SKETCH OF HIS CAREER. (Special to Daily Times.) WELLINGTON, April 30. The Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) announced to-day that at a meeting of the Executive Council this morning the appointment was approved of Mr Michael Myers, K.C., of Wellington, as Chief Justice of New Zealand in succession to the late Sir Charles Skerrett, who died at sea on February 13, while on a voyage to England on the steamer Port Denison. Mr Myers is unreservedly regarded as the foremost lawyer in the Dominion. His career from the time he first went to school until to-day has been marked by Successive stages of brilliant success and advancement. A clear brain, dynamic energy, force of character, readiness of resource, frankness, incisiveness, and breadth of intellect are qualities which Mr Myers possesses in a remarkable degree, and which have contributed to his forward march at the Bar.

Mr 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 Thorndon School and Wellington College, which was .subsequently affiliated to Canterbury University College. It 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 there were only six of such scholarships awarded, and Thorndon School won the whole six, young Myers heading the list. From 1886 till 1891 Mr Myers was at Wellington College. Ip 1887 he won a further primary education board scholarship. He also annexed various college exhibitions and scholarships, including the Turnbull scholarship. It was in 1892 that he embarked on his career in the law, for in that year he joined the staff of Messrs Bell, Gully, and Izard. In 1896 he graduated LL.B., and in March, 1897, he was admitted by the late Sir James Prendergast, the then Chief Justice, as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court. In August, 1899, Mr Myers joined the firm of Messrs Bell, Gully, 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 addition of Mr H. F. O’Leary, and the. name was changed to that of Messrs Bell, Gully, Myers, and O’Leary. Mr 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 and only member of the profession to take silk and practise as a barrister only. Immediately after his admission to the Bar in 1807 he gained a substantial practice, both ns barrister and solicitor, and for many years, until 1910, he took a large proportion of Crown cases, both criminal and civil. Amongst the most important criminal cases in which he appeared were the prosecutions in the murder charges of Philpotfc in 1898, in- which he appeared as junior counsel with Mr F. H. D. (now Sir Francis) Bell, and of Ellis, in which lie appeared alone. Enjoying the confidence of the commercial community in a marked degree there have been but few important civil cases in the last 20 years in which Mr Myers has not appeared. In the wellremembered “ sugar ” case in 1912 and 1913 he acted in conjunction with the late Sir Charles Skerrett, and in the “ flour ” case concerning Distributors, Ltd., in 1924, he also appeared, 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 M’Veigh and Johnstone, of Auckland, successfully defended the directors of the Dominion 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 the 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 appeared for Mr J. B. Hine in connection with the charges made by him in the House of Representatives 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 n counsel in various election petitions. He was in the Stratford election petition, Hine v. Masters, in 1620, in which the 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 successfully appeared for the respondent. Sir Maui Pomare. In Royal Commissions also Mr Myers has taken a prominent part, having conducted many cases, including the following:—Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers, silting (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 Mr Myers took part, which lasted for 18 days, was the arbitration to settle the value of the undertaking of the Hawera Electric Light Company for the purposes of a proposed purchase by the South Taranaki Electric Power Board. Mr Myers acted for the board at the hearing. For many years Mr Myers has been a member of the Wellington District Law Society, being twice vice-president 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 Sir 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. He was also the foundation president of the New Zealand Club. On the same day as he entered into the partnership of Messrs Bell, Gully, Bell, and Myers—namely, August 2, 1899—Mr Myers married Miss Salom, daughetr of the late Hon. Maurice Salom, M.L.C., of Adelaide, South Australia. Mr Myers has been pressed on various occasions to enter political life, but he has always declined.