Sarah Burton
Sarah is a junior barrister at Thorndon Chambers. She assists barristers at Thorndon Chambers with legal research, drafting pleadings and submissions, reviewing evidence, and court appearances.
Before joining Thorndon Chambers, Sarah clerked for Justice Palmer and Justice Gilbert at te Kōti Pīra o Aotearoa | the Court of Appeal of New Zealand. She worked on a range of civil and criminal issues, alongside extrajudicial work. She also worked as a teaching assistant for public law at Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington during that time.
Sarah graduated from Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington with an LLB(Hons)(first class) and a BA in Political Science and French. She was awarded the French Government Prize and was recognised on the Dean’s List for the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences over four years. She twice received the Colin Aikman Award (a scholarship to study constitutional law, human rights, international law and other legal issues affecting the South Pacific). While at university, Sarah clerked at a national commercial firm and interned at a Crown Solicitor firm. She worked as a law tutor and head tutor at Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington across a number of introductory law courses. She was also a research assistant and summer research scholar.
Outside of work, Sarah enjoys reading, cooking and pilates.
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Judge’s Clerk, Te Kōti Pīra o Aotearoa | Court of Appeal of New Zealand (2024–2025)
Teaching Assistant (Public Law), Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington (2025)
Head Tutor, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington (2022–2023)
Tutor, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington (2021–2025)
Research Assistant, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington (2023)
Summer Law Clerk, Buddle Findlay (2022–2023)
Intern, Meredith Connell (2022)
Summer Research Scholar, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington (2021–2022)
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Sarah Burton “Orientalism in the Law: Australia and New Zealand’s Approach to Chinese Immigration” (2024) 31 CLJP/JDCP 113
“Patching Holes in the Partnership: Addressing Vanuatu’s Labour Gaps Caused by the RSE Scheme” presenter, Pacific Human Rights and Jurisprudence Symposium (2025)
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Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand (2024)
LLB(Hons)(first class), Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
BA (Political Science and French), Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
