Ryan Marsich

Barrister, Emily Chambers
Master of Laws
Bachelor of Laws (Honours) with First Class Honours

Ryan Marsich says he was drawn to the Master of Laws because of his strong academic interest in the law and the opportunity to carry out further legal research at a postgraduate level.

“I wanted to further my understanding of specific aspects of the law, improve my legal research skills and establish a strong academic foundation as I progress in my legal career. I had previously completed a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at AUT and thoroughly enjoyed my time there, so AUT was my natural first option to pursue further postgraduate study.

“I enjoyed engaging with academics who are at the top of their field and being given the opportunity to structure my programme in a way that suits me and my interests; enabling me to pursue areas that I’m interested in. I consider AUT a positive and practical learning environment with down to earth, knowledgeable and supportive academic staff.”

Because he was balancing postgraduate study with his busy career as a barrister, he admits it wasn’t always easy to juggle all of his commitments.

“I’m working as a barrister, primarily in the areas of civil and family litigation. It was sometimes a struggle to juggle work and other commitments when completing my thesis, but when I had to modify deadline expectations and other matters AUT was always extremely forthcoming, supportive and realistic in accommodating this.”

Exploring shareholder litigation
For his Master of Laws thesis, Ryan decided to explore class actions, with a specific focus on shareholder litigation.

“Class actions are important for jurisdictions across the world as they improve access to justice by enabling individuals to ‘band together’, and share resources or access funding from litigation funders to pursue well-resourced commercial entities or organisations in court when those individuals would not otherwise have the means to do so by themselves. My research explores class actions in the context of shareholder litigation in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. It also critiques the New Zealand Law Commission’s proposals in relation to the establishment of a Class Action and Litigation Funding regime in New Zealand to identify whether this will have any benefit to shareholder litigants.

“While the research focuses on one specific type of litigant, its issues and findings are also relevant in the context of other group litigation in New Zealand, including as class actions taken by consumers against major banks. My research suggests other areas of reform parliament should consider in the event it chooses to pursue class action and litigation funding reform in the future.”

Ryan’s master’s degree research was supervised by Christopher Whitehead from the AUT Law School.

Advice for other students
Ryan has some great advice for other students who are only at the start of their own university journey.

“If you have a dream or passion that you want to pursue, just do it; don’t hold back.”

The hard work is worth it, he adds.

“University study has its challenges because often you need to juggle multiple personal or work commitments – this applies whether you’re coming straight out of high school or are a mature student – and sometimes it might seem too hard or you might get knocked back. No matter how hard it might seem, you just need to pick yourself back up and keep on ‘keeping on’. It’s worth it.”