Rate My Professor Maria Hook

Associate Professor Maria Hook serves as Convener of Research in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago. She holds a BCA, LLB (Hons), and PhD from Victoria University of Wellington. Her professional career commenced as a judges' clerk at the High Court of New Zealand, followed by a Research Fellowship at Victoria University of Wellington, where she completed her PhD. In 2014, she joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago and was promoted to Associate Professor. Hook teaches Private International Law, International Law, International Litigation and Dispute Settlement, and the Law of Torts. Her research specializations centre on private international law, particularly the conflict of laws governing civil cross-border disputes. She adopts an internationalist approach, drawing on perspectives from both common law and civil law jurisdictions, and occasionally pursues teaching-related research in tort law.

Hook is co-author of New Zealand's first comprehensive textbook, The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand (LexisNexis, 2020, with G. McLay), and its 2024 Supplement. She authored The Choice of Law Contract (Hart Publishing, 2016). Key recent publications include 'State law and Tikanga: Harmonisation or conflict of laws?' (New Zealand Law Review, 2025, with Metiria Stanton Turei and Jack Wass), 'Non-recognition of Palestine' (New Zealand Law Journal, 2025), 'The purpose of the gateways for service out of the jurisdiction' (International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 2024), 'The Rylands Compromise' (Otago Law Review, 2023), 'Strict liability in nuisance – a fork in the road' (New Zealand Law Journal, 2021), and 'A first principles approach to couples' property in the conflict of laws' (Journal of Private International Law, 2019). For The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand, she received the JF Northey Memorial Book Award from the Legal Research Foundation in 2021. She edits the online platform The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand, providing commentary on developments in the field.