Jane Borthwick

RETIRED ENVIRONMENT JUDGE

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Mediator 
Early Neutral Evaluator
Independent Hearing Commissioner

Adjunct Senior Fellow, Faculty of Science, UC

Practice Areas

Earth, Climate and Environmental Law

Public Policy with a focus on climate adaptation and freshwater management

Values

Retiring from the bench of the Environment Court, I bring the judiciary’s core values of independence, impartiality and integrity into private practice:

As a Mediator: facilitating private and public sector engagement and mediation before and during preparation and hearing of resource consent and plan change proposals under fast-track, district and regional council, and court processes.

As an Early Neutral Evaluator: providing a non-binding assessment of the merits of the parties' cases based on an assessment of evidence and policy.

As an Independent Hearing Commissioner: for complex hearings with high public interest.

Approach

Environmental dispute resolution takes place within a complex legal and regulatory framework. Knowledge about the environment may be incomplete or uncertain, but this is the world in which people live and engage.

Drawing on my private practice and on the bench, I have extensive experience regarding the drivers of conflict and of the interests sustaining environmental litigation.

I apply the same thoughtful, inquiring approach that I took on the bench to promote collaborative resolution of differences. Adopting the long view - engaged dialogue improves the likelihood of durable outcomes for the community and for the public and private sectors.

Background

Between 1994 until 2008 I practiced as a lawyer, including as a specialist Resource Management Barrister at Canterbury Chambers.

In 2008 I was appointed judge of the Environment and District Courts. As a judge, I presided over all aspects of environmental litigation, including land, air, soil, water resources with a particular focus during the previous five years on freshwater management.

In 2024, after 15 years on the bench, I retired from the judiciary and now practice at Rātā Chambers.

I trained in mediation at Sydney University, Australia (2018), and in 2024 at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University (USA).