Jessica Kirton-Luxford

Junior Barrister

28 Jun

Jessica is a junior barrister at Thorndon Chambers. She assists barristers at Thorndon Chambers with legal research, drafting pleadings and submissions, reviewing evidence, and court appearances.

Before joining Thorndon Chambers, Jessica clerked for Justice Cooper, President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand. She worked on a range of civil and criminal issues. During this time, she was a teaching assistant for the law of torts at Victoria University of Wellington.

Jessica graduated from the University of Otago with an LLB(Hons)(first class) and a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. She received the Otago District Law Society prize (awarded for showing general excellence throughout the degree). She also finished first or first equal in papers such as torts, international law, environmental Law, and laws and indigenous peoples. Jessica clerked at a large commercial firm, completed an internship at a Tokyo-based NGO, worked as a research assistant and was head tutor for the first year law programme at the University of Otago.

In her spare time, Jessica is a passionate artist, and enjoys running and bouldering.

- Member, New Zealand Bar Association
- Judge’s Clerk, Court of Appeal (2023–2025)
- Editor and Conference Assistant, Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (2023, 2024)
- Teaching Assistant and Tutor, Law of Torts, Victoria University of Wellington (2024, 2023)
- Head Tutor and Tutor, first year law (2021–2022, 2020)
- Summer Clerk, Russell McVeagh (2021–2022)
- Research Assistant, University of Auckland (2020–2021)
- Prime Minister’s Scholarship, Tokyo, Japan (2019)
- Jessica Kirton-Luxford “Forsaking Process for Progress? Transnational environmental law and climate change” (2022) 20(2) NZJPIL 313
- “Climate Change and Resilience” Panellist –30th Annual Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law Conference (2023)
- Interview with van Bohemen J, ANZSIL Perspective (December, 2023)
- Admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, 2023
- LLB(Hons)(first class) University of Otago
- BA (Politics, Philosophy and Economics), University of Otago