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Mark O'Regan

New Zealand lawyer and jurist

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ6769085 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sir Mark Andrew O'Regan (born 30 November 1953) is a New Zealand lawyer and jurist. He was the President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand until his elevation to the Supreme Court of New Zealand in 2014.

Biography

Born on 30 November 1953 and educated at St Patrick's College, Silverstream, O'Regan graduated from Victoria University of Wellington. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court in 1977 and became a partner with the law firm Chapman Tripp 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 in New Zealand.

O'Regan was appointed to the High Court in 2001 and to the Court of Appeal in January 2004. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2014.

In the 2013 New Year Honours, O'Regan was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the judiciary.

O'Regan is married to the writer Nicola Saker, who in the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to heritage preservation and the arts.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mark O'Regan” as new Zealand lawyer and jurist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1953, 2014, 1977, 1984—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1953-11-30. The account is most persuasive where Mark, O'Regan and Zealand can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as new Zealand lawyer and jurist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6769085. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 2014, 1977 and 1984.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Mark O'Regan”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Mark O'Regan primary sources, Mark O'Regan archive and Mark research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mark O'Regan”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Mark O'Regan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.