MEET OUR

Summer Research Scholars 

TeLENZ participated in the Summer Research Scholars Programme via the University of Waikato Research Office in 2021 and 2022 to encourage senior New Zealand law students to contribute research in the legal technology area. Our successful recipients have contributed to fascinating resources for our TeLENZ Learn portal. Find out more about our scholars below.

2022 TeLENZ Summer Scholars

Alessia Belloir-Spense

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO

Alessia completed her Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours in 2021 from the University of Waikato. Throughout her studies she focused on human rights and constitutional elements of the law.

Alessia’s time on the Summer Scholar’s programme affirmed the importance of research in the jurisprudential context and she found that contributing to the work of TeLENZ and supporting legal education in New Zealand was a rewarding experience.

Alessia contributed to the following TeLENZ resources:

  • Algorithmic Decision Making
  • Technologically Enhanced Evidence
  • Autonomous Technology in International Humanitarian Law
  • Cloud Computing in Businesses
  • Developments in Data and Privacy Law
  • Cybersecurity

Ella Shepherd

UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

Ella is a fifth year BA/LLB(Hons) student at the University of Auckland. Ella currently works in civil litigation and remains interested in the intersection between tech, the law, and wider social issues.

Ella contributed to the following TeLENZ resources:

  • Asset Tokens
  • Cloud Computing
  • Quantum Computing
  • Misuse of Personal Information Online
  • Regulating Facebook
  • Airport Detention – You & Your Device at the NZ Border

Sneha Kant

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO

Sneha explored a wide range of academic research on a domestic and international scale during her time as a Summer Research Scholar with TeLENZ. Through TeLENZ, Sneha was able to further a passion for cyber law which emerged during her Honours thesis and was challenged to think about issues beyond mainstream tech law. 

Sneha contributed to the following TeLENZ resources:

  • The Regulation of Misinformation in Social Media
  • The Digital Twin Dilemma
  • Deconstructing New Zealand’s Cybercrime Laws
  • Cloud Computing – Adoption by Government and Implications for Individuals
  • Artificial Intelligence and Privacy
  • Deconstructing New Zealand’s Revenge Pornography Laws

2021 TeLENZ Summer Scholars

Chenade Beardsall

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO

Chenade started her LLB in 2017 at the University of Waikato and graduated in 2021 with First Class Honours. She participated in the TeLENZ Summer Research Scholarship in 2020/2021. Chenade is planning to return to the University of Waikato part-time in 2022 to complete her LLM.

Since graduating, Chenade has started as a Judges’ Clerk at the Hamilton District Court, working mostly in the criminal and family jurisdictions. Throughout law school, the family law sector was Chenade’s main area of interest, and she plans on entering this area of practice when she finishes her current role.

Chenade’s interest in law is mostly founded in the way the law interacts with people and their everyday lives. In turn, this piqued her interest in the ways that new technologies are changing how these interactions occur, as the law is having to govern unprecedented cases that could not have been imagined when it was written. Specifically, Chenade’s interests are in cyber crime and law and new technologies.

Chenade contributed to the following TeLENZ resources:

  • Breach of Confidence in a Digital World
  • When Seeing is No Longer Believing – The World of Deep Fakes
  • Digital Bill of Rights – Pointless or Necessary?
  • Freedom of Information vs National Security in a Digtial Age
  • Ownership and Property in the Digital Age
  • Wearable Technology and Privacy Concerns

Christina Hatton

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO

Christina completed her LLB and BMS majoring in finance from the University of Waikato in 2022. Christina was also a tutor at the University of Waikato, tutoring the Crimes and Torts law papers in 2021.  

Christina has since embarked on her professional journey joining one of the big four professional services firms as a Risk Advisory Consultant.

Christina contributed to the following TeLENZ resources:

  • Uberisation of Legal Services
  • Privacy Act 2020
  • Digital Crimes Against a Person
  • Defamation Online
  • Artificial Intelligence – Use Within the Government
  • Artificial Intelligence – Impact on Legal Technology

Peter Marshall

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO

Peter completed a BA at the University of Otago in 2017 and his LLB at University of Waikato in 2021.  Peter is currently a Legal Researcher in the building law sector, and is soon to complete his professional studies. He is interested in niche law and technology related questions around firearms, blockchain, and space law.

Peter contributed to the following TeLENZ resources:

  • COVID Tracer App
  • Distribution of Firearm Manufacturing Material Online
  • Focussed Summary of Law Commission Report on Regulating DNA use by Police in New Zealand
  • Social Media Regulation: The Changing Public Square
  • Current and Future Legal Challenges of Driverless Cars in New Zealand
  • Blockchain and Smart Contracts