Tūhoe, Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tai ki Tōrere, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui, Te Aupōuri
Judge Te Kani Williams was appointed to the Māori Land Court on 30 September 2021. He is one of the resident Judges for the Taitokerau District of the Māori Land Court hearing cases in Whāngarei and Auckland (North and South).
Judge Williams’ mother is from Tūhoe, Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Maniapoto and his father is from Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tai ki Tōrere, Tainui, and Te Aupōuri. They were and are both teachers and as result Judge Williams’ has had the privilege of being brought up in areas such as Te Whetū, Kāwhia, Pātea and Rūātoki. It was as a result of attending Primary School in Rūātoki that he learnt to speak Māori before he was then sent to Auckland to attend Boarding School at Mt Albert Grammar School where he was one of two boys who studied Māori in what was a boys only school with a population of 1,200. Whilst there he was fortunate enough to play in a number of the schools top sports teams (Softball, Tennis, Squash, Rowing and Rugby) and represented Auckland in the Auckland Secondary Schools Rugby Team in 1984.
Judge Williams’ then attended Auckland Institute of Technology (as it was known then) for two years studying Chartered Accountancy, before transferring to Auckland University to study conjoint Law and Arts degrees and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Māori in 1994 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1995. He had joined the law practice of C.J.McGuire in 1994 and became an Associate in that firm in 1997 before the Principal, C.J.McGuire was appointed to the District Court bench in Rotorua. That firm then amalgamated with D.E Wackrow in 1997 becoming Wackrow & Co, and he became a partner in that firm in 2002 which is currently known as Wackrow Williams & Davies Limited. The Law firm has been a finalist in the NZ Law Awards three times and has won two NZ Māori language awards. He has enjoyed a very general law practice as a result of the firms he has been involved with, doing some Criminal work in the District and High Court, and then developing a practice involving Residential and Commercial Property, Relationship Property, Trusts, Employment, Commercial, Civil Litigation in the District Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. However, a considerable component of his legal career has been spent focusing on Māori Legal issues both in the Māori Land Court, Waitangi Tribunal and in settlement negotiations where he has represented many hapū and iwi and governance bodies. At the same time he has managed to continue to enjoy some sporting success in rugby, as well as being selected to play for the NZ Touch Barbarians Masters team winning the Oceania Championship in Fiji in 2013 and also playing rugby for Ponsonby in the World Masters tournament in 2017 where the team won a Gold medal.
Judge Williams is a former Co-Tumuaki of Te Hunga Roia Māori ō Aotearoa (2006-2008), he has presented seminars for the Auckland District Law Society, Auckland College of Law, NZ Bar Association and at two World Indigenous Law Conferences. He is also the current Commissioner of Te Taha Māori ō Te Haahi Weteriana ō Aotearoa.