Source: New Zealand Government
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges.
The appointees, who will take up their roles in March at the Kaikohe, Manukau and Napier Courts, are:
Rohan Cochrane
Mr Cochrane was admitted in 1999 and has been a director of the law firm Family Law Specialists Ltd in Porirua since 2010, having formerly been a partner of the firm Catriona Doyle and Rohan Cochrane Law Office.
Mr Cochrane’s experience includes acting in cases under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, and appointment as Lawyer for the Child, Lawyer for the Subject Person and Lawyer to Assist the Court. Since 2015, he has been a member of the Legal Services Advisory Board. He is a former convenor and member of New Zealand Law Society Standards Committees in the Wellington and central regions.
Judge Cochrane will be based at the Napier District Court and will be sworn in on 11 March.
Lynn Hughes
Ms Hughes is presently a barrister operating out of Sentinel Chambers in Auckland where she specialises in criminal law. Following admission to the bar in 1999, her early career began with a period as Research Counsel at the Wellington District Court before practising in New Plymouth as a litigation solicitor. She then commenced work with the Public Defence Service in Manukau in 2004, where she became Public Defender and led the operation of the Manukau office until 2021.
She is active in a range of professional bodies including The Law Association and the New Zealand Law Society Criminal Law Committee. Ms Hughes has been the co-chair of the Legal Aid Performance Review Committee since 2023 and a committee member of the Legal Aid Provider Selection Committee since 2022. She has been a faculty member of the NZLS Litigation Skills program, faculty member of the inaugural Pacific Litigation Skills Programme in 2025 and is a NZLS Standards Committee member.
Judge Hughes will be based at the Manukau District Court and will be sworn in on 27 March.
Derek Whitehead
Mr Whitehead was admitted in 1995 and commenced practice in Morrinsville at Allen Needham & Co. He then worked at Le Pine & Co in Taupo for a number of years where he was head of the family law team, before returning north to Henderson Reeves in Whangarei.
He has been based in Whangarei since 2001 running his own practice, focusing on all aspects of family law. Mr Whitehead has been Senior Lawyer for Children, Lawyer to Assist, Lawyer for the Subject Person as well as a member of the appointment and review panels for those roles in recent years. He has been a Youth Advocate since 2002, regularly appearing in Cross Over Court and Koti Tai Tamariki.
He has been a member of the Te Hau Awhiowhio Otangarei Trust Board since 2005, which provides social services to Māori communities in Te Tai Tokerau.
Judge Whitehead will be based at the Kaikohe District Court and will be sworn in on 18 March.
