MICHAEL KIM
Michael Kim is the principal of MK Law Barristers and Solicitors. He has been managing the firm since 2015. He comes from a unique background as a former immigration officer at Immigration New Zealand (INZ). As an immigration officer, he assessed various types of resident visa applications, interviewed applicants, and conducted site visits to workplaces.
While working at INZ, he dealt with many clients presented by an immigration lawyer or advisor. He saw some representatives better than others. Understanding the daunting nature of the immigration policies were only the starting point. Some were competent in all dealings with the particular immigration matters, and some were professionally unprepared. He was lucky to learn what set good representatives apart from the bad ones: the ability to portrait the full picture of the client’s circumstances honestly.
In 2008, Michael completed LLB from the University of Auckland with the sole aim of helping migrants and their families. He focused on administrative law, including immigration, employment, and judicial review. He graduated and was admitted to the bar in 2011.
Since admission, he has successfully helped many migrants and their families facing a legal conundrum. He conducted deportation proceedings at IPT and judicial proceedings in High Court. Since 2017, Michael has been a member of the Immigration and Refugee Committee at the Auckland District Law Society Inc. (now, the Law Association) He is regularly invited to speak and chair professional seminars since 2019.
Apart from immigration matters, he also helped many clients at the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. As a counsel in criminal matters, Michael has successfully represented many criminal clients, including a repeat domestic violence offender, discharged without conviction.
Michael is a qualified legal aid lawyer in the immigration and employment law areas.
As well as English, Michael speaks fluent Korean and Japanese. He can competently advise clients in Japanese.
Michael originally comes from South Korea, married with three children. In his leisure, he enjoys reading the bible and watching movies. He is a second-dan black belt Taekwondo practitioner.
Michael is a proud member of the following professional institutions in New Zealand:
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