Christchurch Senior Family Court lawyer, Erin Ebborn, has won the 2026 Access to Justice Award for her efforts to remove barriers to justice and advocate for a fair and sustainable legal aid system.
The annual award celebrates a New Zealander who has made an outstanding contribution to promoting access to justice.
The Portia Principal Lawyer was presented with the award at the recent Bar Symposium 2026 in Auckland.
“I am delighted to receive the New Zealand Bar Association’s Access to Justice Award and am honoured to be recognised among the mana wāhine who have previously received it,” said Ms Ebborn.
“Portia has been dedicated to making the legal system more accessible, sustainable, and fair. We believe that everyone deserves the right to representation in the New Zealand Courts, and where needed, barriers should be removed to make strong advice and counsel available to everyone.”
Ms Ebborn has specialised in legal aid family court work since she began her career 28 years ago. For the past 14 years, she has also been sole director and principal lawyer of Portia, a law firm where 85% of work is funded through legal aid.
She has overseen the delivery of more than 10,000 legal aid and family legal advice service matters, and Portia is now one of the main providers of legal aid in New Zealand. Ms Ebborn and her team represent clients in care and protection, family violence, parenting, and related civil proceedings across Aotearoa New Zealand, and in particular, Canterbury, West Coast, Marlborough, Nelson, and Kaikōura.
Alongside her client work, Ms Ebborn has made a significant contribution to the wider community and legal profession. The Award judges noted that she has provided free family violence legal education to more than 3,000 community workers and has dedicated considerable time to mentoring and training graduate lawyers.
The Award judges were especially impressed by her devotion to finding practical solutions to improve access to legal services. This included her development of the VLaw® urgent violence portal in partnership with women’s refuges.
Portia began VLaw® in 2014 to improve how people accessed legal services via the internet, enabling clients to obtain legal advice safely and promptly from within a women’s refuge. It has continued to provide long-term VLaw® services to the Marlborough Women’s Refuge, West Coast Women’s Refuge, Shakti Ethnic Women’s Refuge, and other regions as needed.
Portia has won 10 White Camellia Awards (for equality) and was New Zealand’s first law firm to be recognised as such by UN Women Aotearoa.
The judging panel described Ms Ebborn as a lawyer whose work has changed lives, noting that many of her clients are among the most disadvantaged in society and that often she has been the last avenue of support available.
The award is co-sponsored by LexisNexis NZ Ltd and the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o Te Ture. Previous recipients have included Sonja Cooper, Annette Te Imaima Sykes, Bridgette Toy-Cronin, and Frances Joychild KC.
LexisNexis ANZ Managing Director, Carol Chris said the award recognises “people who do more than speak about access to justice. They put it into practice: through advocacy, leadership, innovation and service.”
