Legal 'lackey' rolls with the punches

National deputy leader Gerry Brownlee might not have heard of him, but Wellington lawyer Jack Hodder is one of the city's most prominent lawyers.

Mr Hodder, a partner at Chapman Tripp, was an inaugural member of the Law Commission and founding editor of The Capital Letter, a widely read weekly review of legislative, Government and judicial developments.

He has acted in several prominent cases, perhaps most notably on behalf of the Act party against former MP Donna Awatere Huata in what was the first successful appeal to the Supreme Court.

This year he was in the running to be appointed Solicitor-General but withdrew.

Mr Hodder was engaged as private legal counsel by Parliament's Speaker, Margaret Wilson, to provide independent advice on Auditor-General Kevin Brady's report into election spending.

When his legal opinion, which in several respects runs counter to that of the Auditor-General, was mentioned in the House yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen, it prompted Mr Brownlee to ask, "Who's he?"

Dr Cullen responded: "I tell members that long after Gerry Brownlee is dead and gone, Jack Hodder will have some influence on this country."

Mr Brownlee's retort, that Mr Hodder was "just a Government lackey", drew a rebuke from the Speaker and the clarification that Mr Hodder had nothing to do with any political party.

Mr Hodder said he had not acted for the Government or the Labour Party, and that being called a lackey was an occupational hazard.

"At the end of the day somebody might actually read the work, which is what it really needs to be judged on," he said.

"That's just rhetoric in the debating chamber. There are no big dramas about that. I think I may have been called an Act party lackey when I was acting for Act early on in the Huata matter."