Experience over 170 years of expertise with Carlile Dowling
Welcome to Carlile Dowling, the trusted legal firm with a rich history dating back to some of the first lawyers to practise in Napier. Since the 1850s, our bears and we have provided excellent legal services to the people and businesses of Hawkes Bay and beyond. Today, 170 years from our earliest roots, we are a modern legal firm offering broad client services nationwide and internationally. At Carlile Dowling, we work as a team, to ensure our clients benefit from the collective knowledge and expertise of our highly respected professionals. We are proud of our heritage and committed to delivering the highest-quality legal services to you.
Our name comes from the 1987 amalgamation of two well-established Napier law firms – Carlile McLean & Co and Dowling & Co.
James Carlile
Born in Ireland in 1842, James Carlile practised as a lawyer in England before coming to New Zealand in 1874. In that year, he began practice in Napier. In 1881, he and Patrick McLean formed the partnership of Carlile & McLean, with an office in Emerson Street. Small, spare and learned, Carlile was a great lawyer who, because of his colourful vocabulary and irreverent character, became known as “Swearing Jimmy”. He acted both for the Bishop of Waiapu and the Presbyterian Church in Napier. Once, he referred to the Bishop as “that bow-legged specimen of the Lord’s anointed”, not realising the Bishop was still in the office and could hear him. In one court hearing, he said of the Judge, “I thought the silly old b….r would go wrong”, clearly within the Judge’s hearing. Although a strict disciplinarian to his employees, he was thought of as perfectly just and fair, and one of the kindest of men.
Sir Hallam Dowling
The firm of Dowling & Co can be traced to A.E. Lawry, who practised in the 1920s in Napier. In 1942, he took on Hallam Dowling as a partner, and eventually, that firm’s successor was named Dowling & Co. in 1980. Born in 1909, Dowling had difficulty finding employment during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He called on every law firm between Wellington and Napier looking for a position. On returning to Wellington, he heard that A.E. Lawry would employ him, and returned to Napier to settle. He became one of the pre-eminent lawyers in Hawke’s Bay. His manner was direct and perhaps aggressive, but he was helpful to colleagues. He was awarded the CBE in 1968 for his services to the community and was knighted in 1978.
