Hannah Reid
From assisting Amal Clooney on international human rights publications to prosecuting cases as a Senior Associate at Meredith Connell, University of Auckland Law graduate Hannah Reid is using her legal education to make an impact both locally and internationally.
Key facts
Programme: Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Graduation year: 2017
Hannah, who graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts in 2017, credits her success in the industry to her formative years at Auckland Law School. She recalls, “There have been several key points in my career where I could pin developments on an experience at Law School.”
Her passion for international law was sparked during her studies in Auckland, and further strengthened when she completed her Master of Laws at the University of Columbia Law School in 2020. Hannah says her time at Columbia “was one of the moments where I realised just how well Auckland Law School set me up to engage in more advanced academia and work with excellent lawyers abroad”.
Hannah, who recently had a baby daughter, says that although she’s proud of certain case outcomes and reaching various milestones, what she’s most proud of is sticking to her core values.
“Litigation can be challenging and in that adversarial environment, while others at times take quite different approaches to me, I am proud that I have grown as a lawyer but not morphed into a more aggressive or apathetic version of myself.”
The immersive and practical experiences at Auckland Law School, especially the mooting competitions, inspired her trajectory. Hannah participated in prestigious competitions such as the Jessup moot, the Red Cross International Humanitarian Law moot, and the aviation law moot, experiences she describes as formative. “They were the experiences that best prepared me for working in litigation because of the advocacy skills developed, but also the teamwork involved,” she says. These competitions also offered fully funded travel overseas, which Hannah remembers as “a real luxury when living on a student budget”.
The most memorable moments for me involved mooting and the Honours seminar course and dissertation.
Those were aspects of the degree that involved working closely with other students and the lecturers, delving into new areas of law and presenting the outcomes of hard work.
For students considering Auckland Law School, Hannah’s advice is enthusiastic and direct: “Make the most of everything at law school. Go to class, do the readings, engage with the lecturers, and meet the others in your cohort. The Faculty are incredible and a source of inspiration, wisdom and support, so make the most of the access you have to them.”