Ngāti Kahungunu
Judge Damian Stone was appointed to the Māori Land Court on 25 March 2019.
Based in Wellington, he is the resident judge for the Tākitimu District of the Māori Land Court hearing cases in Hastings.
Before being appointed to the Māori Land Court, Judge Damian Stone was the Managing Partner of Kāhui Legal, a specialist Māori law firm. In that capacity he acted for a number of Māori clients around the country on a range of issues, including Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations, Waitangi Tribunal claims, commercial negotiations and contract drafting, corporate and commercial law and litigation. Prior to becoming a partner of Kāhui Legal, he worked for a large national law firm for 10 years and was also General Counsel for Te Ohu Kai Moana. He is a former co-president of Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society), a former member of the Hazardous substances and New Organisms Committee, the Advertising Standards Complaints Board and a former member of a New Zealand Law Society Standards Committee. He was also the chairperson of an education-based trust in his hometown of Porirua.
Judge Damian Stone is also a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.