Mark Andrew O'Regan is the President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand

Court of Appeal of New Zealand

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand, located in Wellington, is New Zealand’s principal intermediate appellate court. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather than in the Supreme Court...

. Educated at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream

St. Patrick's College, Silverstream

St Patrick's College is an Integrated Catholic boys' day and boarding Secondary School located in Silverstream, Upper Hutt, New Zealand. It was established by the Society of Mary in 1931 when the original St Patrick's College, Wellington was intended to be moved to a larger site more suited to a...

, he graduated from the Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...

.

He was admitted as a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

 and solicitor of the High Court in 1977 and became a partner with the law firm Chapman Tripp

Chapman Tripp

Established in New Zealand in 1875, Chapman Tripp is one of New Zealand's largest commercial law firms, with 52 partners and around 220 legal staff across its offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch...

 in 1984. As a lawyer, he was known particularly for his expertise in relation to commercial law.

He co-authored the New Zealand Law Commission paper which led to the eventual adoption of a register for personal property securities

Personal Property Securities Register

The Personal Property Securities Register is an electronic register that allows security interests in personal property to be registered and searched in accordance with the New Zealand Personal Property Securities Act 1999 and the Australian Personal Property Securities Act 2009.The New Zealand...

in New Zealand.

He was appointed to the High Court in 2001 and to the Court of Appeal in January 2004.