Meet Our People

Amanda emigrated to Nelson in 2014 after 15 years as a Partner in a large regional law firm in the UK and is qualified to practice both in the UK…

A true Southern Girl, Jacintha completed the majority of her schooling in Invercargill. Graduating in December 2008 from the University of Otago having completed a double degree in Law and…

Believe it or not, Joe is the second ex-policeman to have made it onto our payroll. Now this is not a statistic that will make the Guinness Book of Records,…

Hamish is the founding partner of our office in Motueka having set up Kennedy & Associates in 1985. In October 2013, Hamish merged his firm with Knapps Lawyers and in…

Deeanah offers specialist consultancy services to Atkinson Crehan. Although born and bred in Australia, Deeanah has a genuine connection to the Tasman region as she spent a term at Nelson…

Practicing law runs deep through Nick’s family tree. As a fourth-generation lawyer with over 40 years of legal practice under his belt. Nick has an impressive range of expertise in…

Although Merv has retired from full-time active service at Atkinson Crehan, he is still ‘on board’ and giving advice to our Estates team. As one of Nelson’s most experienced Consultants…

Marie Austin is the powerhouse team leader of our Asset Planning & Estate team. Believe it or not, one Will does not suit all circumstances. At Atkinson Crehan, Marie focuses…

Christine's youthful appearance belies the fact that she is officially a “Nana”. She claims looking after her grandchildren and spending time with them is the best fun out there. Equally…

This is one lady you wouldn’t pick for spending her weekends on the track and competing in motor sport…but she does! Kirsty has one big attraction to bikes – she…

Alison has worked internationally in the financial industry before making her way to legal. A journey that has proven her to be very knowledgeable when it comes to working in…

Tessa was born and raised in Nelson and started her role in 2022 with our property team. She has recently completed her Legal Executive Diploma and is excited to develop…

Judith is an experienced registered legal executive having trained while working initially for Hamish & Associates. After a period of time with another local law firm, Judith has returned to…

Berny is well-practiced in multiple aspects of law thanks to her longevity in the industry [starting around 1998]. From trusts and wills to environmental law and conveyancing, personal secretary, sole…

Sarah has a rich professional history that has taken her far and wide before bringing her valuable skill set to our Estates team. Sarah has over 20 years in financial…

Sharyn was born and raised in Richmond, Nelson, and has been working at a law firm with Knapps in the name since 1977 (do the math on that one). December…

Lynette started her Financial/Administration experience in the early 80’s in the transport industry. She's also worked in the Education Sector before finding her role at Atkinson Crehan as part of…

Karen started in her role as Personal/Team Assistant in July 2019 working in our Estates team. Karen enjoys the variety of the work she does along with the client contact.…

Having been brought up in the UK, Sandie emigrated to Australia with her husband in 2016, living there for 3 years, before deciding to move closer to family and hit…

Gilly moved from Christchurch to Nelson in early 1999 after meeting her soon to be husband Alex. Gilly started at Knapps Nelson as Receptionist before moving to our Richmond office.…

Diane is originally a Southland girl who relocated in 2019 to Motueka having holidayed in the area for 40+ years. She has worked in a legal office since 1976 and…

Lyn is a born and bred Motueka local lady. She’s worked for Kennedy and Associates, Knapps and now Atkinson Crehan since 2007. Lyn is one of our two reception/office administrators…