NEW CHIEF JUSTICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 650, 30 April 1929, Page 1

NEW CHIEF JUSTICE

Mr. M. Myers Appointed BRILLIANT CAREER AS KING’S COUNSEL Hess Association WELLINGTON, To-day. THE Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, announced to-day that Mr. Michael Myers. K.C.. of Wellington, had been appointed Chief Justice, in succession to the late Sir Charles Skerrett.

The new Chief Justice is only 56 years of age. He was born at Motueka, and educated first at Thorndon school, then at Wellington College, and finally at Canterbury University College. In his twenty-fourth year he took his degree of LL.B. For 30 years he was associated with the legal firm of Messrs. Bell, Gully, and Myers, of Wellington. He took silk in 1922. In many ways the Chief Justice is : a remarkable man —remarkable particularly for his energy and forensic ability. To-day it can be said unquestionably that he is the leader of the New Zealand Bar. It has been

j said that he is the only lawyer in New Zealand who has been able to coniine himself solely to a barrister'* practice without engaging in the plodding work of a solicitor. On all sides he is recognised as a lirst-class advocate, and a profound and subtle lawyer, these separate attainments being seldom seen together. The personality of Mr. Myers is genial and simple. Of course, he has a frank consciousness of his ow n wide legal knowledge and always has had reason for exercising it. As a practitioner his gospel was work. Many observers of his talent have noted that he could charge .fees, .but.tUj?n it has been admitted that he could earn them. And he always gave of his besi Indeed, his success in the law' courts and his profits (if one cares to put ii that way) provide impressive proof that in accepting the highest legal position within the bestowal of his country to men of his profession. Mr. Myers has made a heavy monetary sacrifice, greater than any other lawyer in this country has yet been called upon to make in the Dominion’s ,interest. An insatiable and indeed even a greedy appetite for difficult law will assist him immediately in easing the overworked machinery of the Judiciary. The administration of the increased and ever-growing complexities of New Zealand’s legislative and Order-in-Council-made law' will be benefitted to the advantage of the community. Mr. Myers’s wide knowledge of commercial business, together with his proved versatility, will ensure that his judicial outlook will in no sense be narrowed to an academical one. The elevation of this brilliant King’s Counsel is a notable contribution to the traditional high standard of the New Zealand Bench. All his merits and qualities justify such an anticipation, and those who have followed his career most closely will be ready to expect that he will become one of the Dominion’s greatest Chief Justices. For those who think in terms of money and substantial values it may be said that the United Government is to be congratulated on the “bargain” it has secured for the State, this advantage being nothing less than a monopoly of Mr. Myers’s services at a remuneration which, if earned at the Bar, would have spelt failure to him as a barrister. He has never been a politician and has never played to the gallery except, it may have been, to the gallery of his own ambition. In 1899 Mr. Myers married Estelle, daughter of the Hon. Maurice Salom. of Adelaide. He has two sons. Reflective people may be pleased to note that the new Chief Justice appreciates a good cigar.

One of the special duties of the Chief Justice, it may be pointed out, is to represent his Majesty the King, as Administrator, in the absence of the Governor-General or pending the appointment of his vice-regal successor. Writing editorially on April 4, The Sun noted, during the delay in t'*i appointment of the new Chief Justice, and while many rumours were in circulation, that while it might be imprudent to suggest whom the Government should appoint, experienced and wise men in the legal profession had not hesitated to name Mr. M. Myers, K.C.. as the only man whose qualifications were such as ought in ordinary circumstances to result in his appointment out of hand.