Mai Chen is a New Zealand and Harvard educated lawyer with a professional and specialist focus in constitutional and administrative law, Waitangi tribunal and courts, human rights, white collar fraud and regulatory defence, judicial review, regulatory issues, education law, and public policy and law reform. Chen is a barrister and holds an office in the Public Law Toolbox Chambers. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Auckland School of Law. Having served previously in the university's Business School. Chen is also the Chair of New Zealand Asian Leaders, SUPERdiverse WOMEN and the Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business. She is married to Dr John Sinclair and the two have one son. Chen has featured in Forbes magazine, TEDx talks and the National Business Review (NBR) and was a finalist for the New Zealander of the year award.

Early life

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen immigrated to New Zealand with her family at the age of six in 1970. Hers was the first Taiwanese family in the South Island of New Zealand. She studied at Otago Girls' High School, where she became a head girl, dux.

Education and scholarships

Chen attended the University of Otago (New Zealand) and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws Honours degree (first class) in 1986. She was admitted to the bar in the same year. Chen was awarded several scholarships, including the William Georgetti Scholarship granted by the New Zealand Governor-General, the Sir Harold Barrowclough Scholarship and the Butterworths Travelling Scholarship. In 1987 Chen was awarded the Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship to study at Harvard Law School. Chen graduated with her Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1988 and won the Irving Oberman Memorial Award for the best Human Rights thesis at Harvard Law School. Her thesis was on the Treaty of Waitangi. Following Harvard Law School, Chen was awarded the Ferguson Human Rights Fellowship, a scholarship granted by the Harvard Human Rights Programme to be a Fellow at the International Labour Office in Geneva working on United Nations' Women's Convention and the ILO Indigenous Peoples Convention. The University of Otago invited Mai Chen to accept her Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws on 16 December 2023. The university also invited Mai to deliver the graduation address on this occasion. Conferring an Honorary Degree is a recognition of the University of Otago's most outstanding graduates and those who have brought great credit to the university through their achievements. The awarding of this Honorary Degree in 2023 is especially significant, as the Otago Faculty of Law celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Career

Chen interned at the United Nations' International Labour Office in Geneva in 1988. In 1989, Chen took up a lectureship at the law school at Victoria University of Wellington, and wrote her first book on the discrimination of women under the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. In 1990, she chaired a government review on the Policy of Excluding Women from Combat, and in 1992 she became the youngest senior lecturer in law in New Zealand at that time. In 1993, she co-authored Public Law in New Zealand with former Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC, which was published by Oxford University Press. In 1994, Chen became a lawyer at Russell McVeagh, but left after one year to co-found Chen Palmer alongside former New Zealand Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC. Chen bought out Sir Geoffrey when he left to head the Law Commission. In 2013, Chen opened an Auckland office. Chen Palmer won Best Boutique Law Firm in 2010, and Best Public Law Firm in the New Zealand Law Awards from 2007 to 2011, and 2013, and was a finalist in the Employment Law Awards in 2011. In September 2022, Chen left her role as Senior Partner of Chen Palmer to go to the Bar.

Other

In 2024, Otago alumna and former member of the Faculty of Law, Dr Mai Chen established the Mai Chen Legal Innovation Award, which will be granted annually to the student who produces the most innovative piece of legal writing for an LLM or LLB(Hons) degree, dissertation, or a research and writing assignment for an LLB/LLB(Hons) degree. Dr Chen’s gift is for an annual award of $5,000, each year for 10 years. The original piece of writing serves as a meaningful way of challenging or expanding the boundaries of established understanding and thinking about the Law. Dr Chen says that “This award encourages thinking to keep our law match-fit to meet new scenarios and to re-appraise existing scenarios where appropriate, in the light of more facts coming to light." It is also hoped that the winning entry will be published in a suitable forum such as the Otago Law Review. https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/new-award-aims-to-push-the-boundaries-of-legal-thinking In April 2015, Chen was appointed, as a director, to the Board of BNZ (Bank of New Zealand). Chen is also chair on the People and Remuneration Committee, as well as sitting on the NZ Audit Committee and the Risk Committee. Chen is an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland. Prior to this, Chen was an adjunct professor in Commercial and Public Law at the University of Auckland Business School. Chen was also made an honorary lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington. Chen has also sat on the Trade for All Advisory Board, the Securities Commission of New Zealand, the Advisory Board of AMP Life Limited (NZ), the New Zealand Board of Trade and Enterprise's Beachheads Programme, the Asia New Zealand Foundation, the Royal NZ Ballet Board, and on the Wellington Polytechnic and Victoria University of Wellington Councils. She was President of the Harvard New Zealand Alumni Association (NZ) for eight years. Chen is a member of the New Zealand Law Society Public and Administrative Law Committee, and the New Zealand China Council. In May 2015, Chen established the Superdiversity Institute on Law, Policy and Business, undertaking research into the impact of cultural and linguistic diversity on discrimination law and policy, on electoral laws, Health and Safety legislation implementation and on parties in the Courts. Chen also established the New Zealand Asian Lawyers to increase an understanding of the issues and challenges, and to improve the contribution and practice, of Asian lawyers and Asian clients.

Voluntary work

Chen is founder and Chair of the Superdiversity Institute, and was the founder and previous chair of New Zealand Asian Leaders, that connects top Asian NZ lawyers, CEOs and emerging leaders with New Zealand companies doing business in Asia to enhance their success to help NZ Inc. She also helped to establish the Pacifica Leadership Academy at BEST Pacific Institute of Education, formerly led by Beatrice Faumuina. Chen is also the founder and President of New Zealand Asian Lawyers. Chen is the inaugural chair of Global Women, which is a not for profit charitable organisation for top women leaders in the public, private and not for profit sectors which mentors emerging leaders. Chen, as part of her pro-bono work, organises and hosts a number of seminars and events across Auckland to bring together the New Zealand's top legal specialists. In July 2013, Chen also launched willtolive.co.nz, a low-cost provider of templated wills for young people. Chen has done a wide range of pro bono work, including for the Auckland Zoo, New Zealand Endometriosis Foundation and He Huarahi Tamariki (the school for Teenage Parents in Tawa). Chen has also provided pro bono advice to the Bilingual Leo Pacific Coalition. Chen was President of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association (New Zealand) for ten years, and was a trustee of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Board for four and a half years. From 1982 to 1986 Chen did voluntary work with street kids referred by the Department of Social Welfare, including the establishment of a Modern Dance Group for girls. Chen has previously sat on the Yvonne Smith Scholarship Committee which awards scholarships to women, including those who want to study post-graduate law. She also was a member of the selection panel for the New Zealander of the Year award in 2019.

Honours and prizes

Books and publications

Major articles and papers

Media appearances