A legal property officer at Western Bay of Plenty District Council has topped New Zealand's talent in the field by achieving the highest aggregate marks among all law students at the College of Law in 2013.

Kylie Thorne, 31, joined the Western Bay council in 2006 as a law school graduate from the University of Victoria.

Kylie Thorne, top legal marks

Kylie works with the legal team within council's strategic property department and during the last year combined council work, family and motherhood with five months of intensive study at the College of Law to complete her professional legal studies.

In December Kylie added to her already-successful year by being admitted to the High Court.

To practice law in New Zealand it is necessary to obtain a law degree and then undergo Professional Legal Studies (Profs) in order to be admitted to the High Court as a barrister and solicitor.

However it wasn't until a phone call from the College of Law to her home in Matamata last month that Kylie learned of her outstanding success in Profs.

She's achieved the highest aggregate overall marks for all subjects out of about 600 students in New Zealand – including first in writing and drafting (litigation) nationwide and first-equal in elective practice (litigation) nationwide.

She also gained the highest aggregate marks in Hamilton, topping her class in several subjects – including a mark of 96 per cent for property practice.

Kylie received her awards at the College of Law's annual awards function in Auckland on February 27.

Her success comes as sweet reward for a tough year of juggling life, work and study; and adds a significant new layer to her CV.

But Kylie says she has no immediate plans to leave her council job – saying she 'loves the local government environment and says Western Bay is a great place to work”.

WBOPDC's chief executive Glenn Snelgrove is proud of Kylie's success, saying it highlights the value of council's employment criteria – to seek out the best possible ability when recruiting staff.

'Local government is big business and is an extremely exacting environment that requires a huge diversity of academic talent.

'Employees such as Kylie are integral to council's operational success and we pride ourselves on our talent recruitment.”