Background
He was born in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand in 1942 and educated at Hari Hari Primary School, Street Bedes College in Christchurch and Auckland University.
He was born in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand in 1942 and educated at Hari Hari Primary School, Street Bedes College in Christchurch and Auckland University.
University of Auckland (Bachelor of Laws).
Between 1963 and 1967 he worked in the legal section of the Maori Affairs Department in Auckland. In 1970 he was admitted to the bar in Auckland and in July the same year he joined the law firm Bell Gully in Wellington. He specialised initially in personal injury work and then in employment law, commercial litigation and defamation cases.
In July 2000 Ford was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tonga.
From 2005 to 2007 he also served as a Judge on the Fijian Court of Appeal. In September 2006, Ford was appointed Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga and President of the Tonga Court of Appeal.
In November 2007, Ford was Convenor of the 17th Biennial Pacific Judicial Conference in Nuku’alofa which was attended by over 50 judges from around the Pacific, including 21 Chief Justices. On 25 March 2010, Ford was appointed to the position of Judge of the Employment Court of New Zealand although he did not take up that position until the expiration of his Tongan contract in September 2010.
He is a Life Member of the New Zealand Sporting Clubs" Association (SCANZ) and of the New Zealand Licensing Trusts Association and a former Trustee of the Halberg Trust.