Inductee John Saunders, President Reg Smith and Sponsor Cynthia Edgell
John Saunders, (John) was inducted on 25 August with the classification Mediator-Arbitrator.
John was born in remote country New Zealand and educated, initially at a sole charge primary school, where his father was the teacher and most of the 16 students came to school on horseback. He then went to Hawera High School and Victoria University of Wellington, completing a Law degree in 1970.
Directly from university, John practised as a solicitor, first in Wellington, and subsequently in Tauranga. In 1978 John moved to the bar and practised as a barrister until 1987. He then moved to Hong Kong where he joined the Attorney General’s Chambers as Crown Counsel.
John was appointed a Magistrate in Hong Kong in 1989. He was subsequently promoted to be a Judge in the District Court and then to the Court of First Instance of the High Court. During 25 years in Hong Kong, John was also the Coroner, was a Family Court Judge, conducted Marine Inquiries and was Chairman of the Insider Dealing Tribunal, and the Securities and Futures Appeal Tribunal. In the High Court John dealt with general civil litigation and matrimonial litigation
John has two children from his first marriage, and while in Hong Kong met Kate and they were married in 1995. In 2011 John retired and they moved, initially to a 10 acre block in Red Hill from where John conducted an international practice in mediation and arbitration as well as sitting part time as a Deputy High Court Judge in Hong Kong. They had 2 acres of pinot noir grapes on the block and assisted a nearby vineyard in producing a high-quality wine from the grapes. In June 2021 John retired fully and they now live in Toorak.
John and Kate enjoy travel, (when they are not confined by Covid), particularly to visit their grandchildren in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. John is a retired sailor, a keen but not very competent golfer, enjoys good wine, cooking and reading.
John was sponsored by Cynthia Edgell and his mentor is Austen Burleigh.
