Cooney Lees Morgan has been part of the development of the Bay of Plenty since 1918 when schoolteacher “HO” Cooney completed his bar exams and opened a law practice in Te Puke. As HO’s reputation as a barrister grew, so did his practice and by 1930, he had opened the Tauranga office.

HO was deputy mayor of Te Puke and an advocate for local Maori in land grievances. When Lionel Lees joined the firm in 1939 he also involved himself in the community – as deputy mayor of Tauranga, and on the local Fire Board. When HO won the case for a new port for Tauranga, Lionel served on the Harbour Board.

Ed Morgan, meanwhile, was in Malaya, but he returned to New Zealand in 1950 and moved to Tauranga to join the firm. He was to take over much of HO’s Maori work, including winning compensation for land seized after the battle of Gate Pa. Before long, the firm became Cooney, Lees & Morgan.

Two of HO’s sons, Jim and Des, carried on the Cooney involvement in the firm and in turn sons of theirs – Michael and Paul, and Owen, also joined.

In 1918, when the Cooney Lees Morgan story begins, Tauranga was a modest town: the 1916 census recorded a population of just 1,685. There was a fish factory, a few citrus orchards around Te Puke and the early stages of a dairy industry. There was no railway: Auckland was an overnight sea voyage away, on the twice-weekly steamer Nga Puhi which left from a wharf jutting out from the Strand.

Of course, you could get to Auckland by horse, and that’s how local school-teacher Owen – everyone called him “HO” – Cooney would travel, whenever he had to go up for another exam on his way to becoming a lawyer. They say he soaked up the books, and would practice his courtroom skills in the classroom, creating a moot court with his pupils.

Once he qualified - in 1918 - HO opened his practice, in Te Puke initially. He had a passion for supporting the underdog – perhaps a trait from his Irish immigrant parents. For him, winning the case was always more important than the economics of a legal practice – and he established himself as a nationally-respected barrister. It was said he never lost a jury trial and was always so well prepared that, “by the time he got into the courthouse, look out. He mesmerised them.”

In the 1930s he was joined by Andy Jamieson. Andy soon took over the Te Puke office and HO opened the Tauranga office, in Willow Street.

By 1940, Tauranga was starting to boom, but there was a war on and Andy Jamieson, among others on the firm’s staff, enlisted. HO persuaded Lionel Lees to come and help him. Tauranga-born, Lionel had also trained in Auckland and was Crown Counsel there before returning to look after the family farm in Papamoa. Reluctant to take a job from those in service, Lionel took some convincing, but gave in when H.O. simply painted his name on the front of the building. Andy Jamieson never did return – he was killed in Crete in 1941.

HO Cooney and Lionel Lees were extremely active in the development of the region. HO was mayor of Te Puke for a while and an advocate for local Maori over land grievances. Lionel served on the Tauranga council and was deputy mayor, as well as being on the Fire Board and the committee that established Waikato University. Overcoming opposition from Auckland and Whakatane - and from the Chief Engineer from Wellington - HO argued the case for a new port for Tauranga and Lionel served on the new Harbour Board.

After the war, HO’s son, Jim, joined the practice. The war and family had prevented Jim from completing his law exams, but, as a major in the army he had honed some strong negotiating skills and he applied these to great effect in a number of land compensation claims. In 1948, the name of the firm was changed to Cooney, Jamieson, Lees.

Meanwhile Ed Morgan (actually Eugene Dennis, but E.D. became “Ed”) was in Malaya, part of the post-war colonial government. He’d been a prisoner of the Japanese during the war and survived three horrendous years building the Burma railway. When he returned to New Zealand in 1950 he was encouraged by a former law professor to “go to Tauranga and learn his craft” from HO, which he did. Another of HO’s sons – Des Cooney - a well-known sportsman who represented Auckland, Bay of Plenty and New Zealand Varsities at rugby – also joined the firm.

Des developed an extensive property practice and took up responsibility for managing the firm, embracing new ideas and new technology and overseeing a significant expansion. The firm moved to new premises in Grey Street. Ed Morgan, meanwhile – who, like HO, was an outstanding barrister; no happier than when fighting for a cause - was taking over HO’s Maori work, helping, among other things, to secure compensation for the land taken after the 1864 Battle of Gate Pa and later taking part in the land march alongside Dame Whina Cooper. The name of the firm changed again, to Cooney Lees & Morgan.

In 1966, David Coates joined the firm. David was the founding partner of Simpson Coates and Clapshaw, the Auckland firm known today as Simpson Grierson. David brought a wealth of commercial experience.

The 1970’s brought the third generation of Cooneys to the firm – Jim’s sons Michael and Paul. Another current partner, Ross Potter also joined at this time.

In the 1980s, another of HO’s grandchildren - Des Cooney’s son Owen – joined his cousins in the firm. John Gooch – nationally respected for his expertise in rural syndication - joined as a partner, as did Kevin Casey (both from the firm Murray, Dillon, Gooch). Peter Washer became a partner and Sally Powdrell joined the firm. New premises were required and the firm moved to First Avenue.

Peter Crombie and Paul Tustin joined in the 1990s, whilst Matt Tustin joined the partnership in 2008.

HO Cooney died – still working - in 1959. Lionel Lees – awarded the MBE for his outstanding service to the community – died 1998. Ed Morgan, also awarded an MBE, had died in 1988. Des Cooney died in 2000.

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