McKay Career Timeline
Investigation document: McKay Career Timeline
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Date: 29 December 2025
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GERALD GEORGE MCKAY - CAREER CHRONOLOGY
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EDUCATION:
- Victoria University of Wellington
- Graduated late 1960s with LLB (Bachelor of Law)
- Later completed Master of Law
CAREER TIMELINE:
1967: Started practicing law in Napier
- First position: Dowling and Co (Napier law firm)
- Built reputation over 18 years
1985: Founded McKay Hill law firm
- Co-founder with Richard Hill
- Established as independent firm
2004-2010: President of NZ Trustees Association
- Peak of professional standing
- "Known as god" in trust management
2010 (May): Law Society audit triggered
- McKay told staff "We're done for"
- Created fake backdated invoices
2010 (June): Practising certificate suspended
- Law Society investigation
- Firm collapsed
2014: Struck off the roll
- Found guilty of professional misconduct
- "Acting for parties with strongly conflicting interests"
2016: Criminal conviction
- 5 counts theft
- 5 counts using document for pecuniary advantage
- 1 count criminal breach of trust
- Sentenced to 4.5 years imprisonment
2017: First parole bid failed
- "Treats prison staff like receptionists"
- "Strong sense of entitlement"
2018: Granted parole
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KEY INSIGHT: THE DOWLING & CO CONNECTION
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McKay was at DOWLING & CO before founding McKay Hill in 1985.
This means:
- McKay's early clients (1967-1985) were at Dowling & Co
- When he left to found McKay Hill, he likely took clients with him
- The Jenssen relationship could have started at Dowling & Co
- The "reputation as god" was built BEFORE McKay Hill existed
QUESTION: Was Dowling & Co the original firm serving the Jenssens?
If Jenssens were clients from 1967 (or earlier via Dowling):
- 18 years of relationship building (1967-1985)
- McKay knew their entire financial structure
- When he founded McKay Hill, Jenssens came with him
- The extraction could have started immediately in 1985
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THE 1985 PIVOT POINT
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McKay Hill founded in 1985.
QMS (Quota Management System) introduced in 1986.
Deep Sea II lost in 1987.
This is NOT coincidence:
1985: McKay creates his own firm (control)
1986: QMS makes fishing quota valuable (motive)
1987: Deep Sea II lost (opportunity/trigger)
The founding of McKay Hill may have been PREPARATION for the extraction.
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RESEARCH NEEDED
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- Dowling & Co history - who were their clients?
- When did Jenssens first engage legal services in Napier?
- Did Jenssens move from Dowling to McKay Hill in 1985?
- When did Evans, Johnston open accounts - before or after 1985?
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CRITICAL DISCOVERY: CARLILE McLEAN & CO
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From Carlile Dowling website:
"Carlile Dowling is the result of an amalgamation of two long established
Napier law firms; Carlile McLean & Co and Dowling & Co in the late 1980s."
CARLILE McLEAN & CO:
- Founded 1874 by James Carlile
- Patrick McLean joined 1881
- "One of the earliest known legal firms in the region"
THE McLEAN NAME:
DONALD McLEAN was the Crown's land purchase agent who bought Ahuriri
(Napier) from Māori in 1851. The McLean name is deeply embedded in
Hawke's Bay colonial history.
Is Patrick McLean related to Donald McLean?
- If so, Carlile McLean & Co would have been THE establishment firm
- They would have handled all major land and business transactions
- The Jenssens, as successful Norwegian immigrants, would likely have used them
TIMELINE RECONSTRUCTION:
1874: Carlile McLean & Co founded (establishment firm)
1881: Patrick McLean joins
1950s: Jenssen brothers establish fishing business
- Would need legal services for business, immigration, property
- Carlile McLean or Dowling & Co most likely firms
Late 1960s: Gerald McKay joins Dowling & Co
1985: McKay leaves to found McKay Hill
- Takes clients with him?
- Jenssens follow?
Late 1980s: Carlile McLean & Dowling merge
- McKay Hill now competing firm
- McKay has the Jenssen relationship
This suggests the Jenssen relationship may predate McKay personally,
going back to Dowling & Co or even Carlile McLean.