Helen Winkelmann

Helen Winkelmann (born 1962) is the thirteenth and current Chief Justice of New Zealand, having taken office in March 2019 as the second woman to hold the position. She was admitted to the bar in 1985 after studying history and law at the University of Auckland, and at age 25 became the first female partner at the law firm Nicholson Gribbin. She was appointed a High Court judge in 2004, served as Chief High Court Judge from 2010 to 2015, joined the Court of Appeal in 2015, and was nominated for Chief Justice by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. As Chief Justice she has introduced court reforms for accessibility and timeliness, including establishing an Earthquake List in Christchurch after the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, and has worked to incorporate Maori cultural protocols into court operations. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/