Senior Solicitor - Auckland
Reina Va'ai
Expertise
About
Reina has worked extensively with Pacific communities in New Zealand and across the Pacific, specifically with non-profit community organisations and with the Attorney General’s office in Samoa.
Reina has previously worked in criminal defence and was most recently part of the legal team for the Royal Commission of Inquiry: Abuse in Care.
Working with Pacific defendants and survivors of abuse has been the main focus of Reina's legal career.
She completed her undergraduate degrees at the University of Auckland and her master’s degree at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Reina is also a freelance journalist and filmmaker with a particular interest and passion for highlighting issues relevant to Pacific people and communities.
She was appointed as a member of the New Zealand Media Council in 2021 and has worked for Tagata Pasifika, Stuff, and the BBC.
Credentials
BA/LLB, University of Auckland
Reina's dissertation at the University of Cambridge was entitled 'Smashing the concrete ceiling: Experiences of Pacific female lawyers in New Zealand’s criminal justice system'.
She was also a co-lead researcher for ‘Transformative pathways towards restorative justice for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa’, with research funded by the Borrin Foundation.