History of the Firm

Dennis King Law is derived from one of the oldest law firms in Taranaki, tracing its roots back to 1870 when the late Robert Clinton Hughes commenced a law practice in New Plymouth.

The firm of Dennis King Law is the result of successive amalgamations and splits of many different practices.

Dennis King joined the firm Till Greiner Lee in 1981, becoming a Partner in 1983. In 30+ years as a practising Taranaki lawyer Dennis King became a name synonymous with many major local legal issues. In 2006 he and his team decided to set up a law firm specialising in legal services to the business community.

Timeline of the history of 

The Late Sir Alexander Johnstone QC

The most high profile lawyer in the history of Dennis King Law

Vice President of the New Zealand Law Society in 1933 and continued in that position until 1951.

"No man of his generation gave to the profession more continuous, more varied, or more valuable service than Sir Alexander." The President of the New Zealand Law Society, Mr T P Cleary

"We knew him as the profound lawyer and the finished advocate. We admired those qualities of mind and character which illuminated his work; his never-failing sense of fairness; his courtesy to Bench and to Bar; the integrity of a scrupulous mind." T P Cleary

Started his own firm A H Johnstone, which then became Johnstone Croker McCormick, then Croker McCormick Greiner, then Till Greiner Lee, then THK, then Dennis King Law.

Sir Alexander came to the Taranaki District where he practiced at New Plymouth for some twelve years, and during that time also took a keen interest in local body and education affairs. He served on the Council of the Taranaki District Law Society and its President. He quickly rose to eminence in his profession, and this was recognised outside the Taranaki District itself, for briefs came from all parts of the Island.

His interests and activities, however, were not confined to the law. He was particularly interested in education matters. In Taranaki he served for a time on the Board of the New Plymouth High School.

In Auckland he was a member of the Council of the District Law Society from 1920 until 1951, and was President in 1924-1925. He was unique in being the only person who, as far as is known, had been President of two District Societies up to that particular time.

Then there was his model mode of presentation of his case. He had the quiet means of approach which in itself was often deceptive.

As a cross-examiner, he was in the first rank. Again, there was the quiet approach, the careful probing into the chink in the armour, then the rapier thrust, and the final coup de grace.

It is no secret that he was offered the Chief Justiceship, and the fact that he said there was a better man available shows to us who knew his real qualities a spirit of self-negation which is truly unique.

A recollection from The President of the Auckland District Law Society, Mr S D E Weir.

Notes compiled from New Zealand Law Journal (June 19, 1956). Tributes from Bench and Bar

In fact there is nothing that keeps its youth
So far as I know but a tree and truth. Oliver Wendell Homes

Courthouse, New Plymouth 1895

The first Courthouse in New Plymouth was a wooden building situated at the corner of James Lane and Devon Street on the Eastern side of James Lane – the entrance was from Devon Street. At the back of the Courtroom a raised dais or platform ran across the building and constituted the Bench. Crossing this, one descended by two or three steps into a long narrow room occupied by the Magistrate and the Clerk of the Court. Adjoining the Courthouse was the little prison, comprising three stone cells and a yard, the whole surrounded by a stone wall. The first gaoler was one Thomas Heal, an old Waterloo Veteran. From the platform temporarily constructed near the entrance electoral announcements and hustings speeches were made to people standing in the Street.

Compiled from notes of Mr R Clinton Hughes, by L A Taylor, LL.B.

OBITUARY Mr Robert Clinton Hughes, New Plymouth

Oldest Practising Solicitor in New Zealand

Mr Robert Clinton Hughes, the last surviving member of the old Taranaki Provincial Council, died on January 18, 1935, at the age of eighty-seven. He was the oldest practising solicitor in New Zealand, having been admitted to the Bar in 1870. Born at Auckland in 1847, Mr Hughes went to New Plymouth at an early age, and entered the office of the late Judge Weston, while the latter was in practice. He was admitted as a solicitor in September, 1870, and at once commenced practice on his own account; this he continued until his death – a period of sixty-four years.

The late Mr Hughes attended the three annual Legal Conferences, and took an active part in the deliberations.

To the last Mr Hughes gave public service to several bodies that always had his stout allegiance. One of these was the Pukekura Park Committee, another the New Plymouth Beautifying Society, and a third the SPCA. The guardianship of the inheritance of nature for future generations was always his especial care. He was one of the prime movers in the acquisition of Pukekura Park for the borough, and occupied a seat on the first, which he retained for more than fifty years.

The late Mr Hughes’s funeral was the most represented ever seen in New Plymouth, and the affection and regard in which he was held by the whole community was shown by the comprehensive and touching public references of his life and worth.

New Zealand Law Journal 1935 Vol XI No. 2