Bell Gully Leads In Chambers Global Names

Bell Gully Leads In Chambers Global Names - Lawyer Listings

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Chambers global names Bell Gully New Zealand market leader

Monday 16 March 2009

Bell Gully has topped the New Zealand law firm rankings for the sixth consecutive year in leading international legal publication Chambers Global.

In the just released Chambers Global Guide 2009, Bell Gully achieves number one rankings in six major practice areas, including corporate, banking and finance, dispute resolution, employment, insolvency/restructuring and tax. The firm's intellectual property and TMT (technology) practices are also highly rated.

The guide singles out 28 of the firm's partners and senior associates as leading individuals – more than any other New Zealand law firm.

For the second year, Bell Gully's climate change team was ranked among the top 12 climate change practices globally, the only New Zealand firm to feature. Of only 18 individuals recognised globally, partner Simon Watt is ranked in the top tier of advisers and senior associate Kate Radka identified as an "up and coming" expert.

Bell Gully practice and individual rankings for 2009 are:

Practice area / Individual / Chambers research comments

Banking and Finance

(Band 1)
Murray King
David McPherson
David Craig
"This 'commercial, efficient and fully integrated team' continues to grow and develop as one of New Zealand's leading banking and finance practices."

Corporate/Commercial

(Band 1)
Gavin Macdonald
Brynn Gilbertson
David Flacks
Garry Downs
Haydn Wong
James Gibson
Mark Freeman

"Widely acknowledged as a heavyweight player in the New Zealand market, Bell Gully's exceptionally strong corporate and commercial offering is backed up by the firm's 'broad expertise across a wide range of legal disciplines,' and it attracts an excellent flow of domestic, trans-Tasman and international work."

Corporate/Commercial: Competition
Phil Taylor

Corporate/Commercial: Energy & Natural Resources
Chris Gordon
Garry Downs

Corporate/Commercial: Public Law
David McGregor
Simon Watt

Dispute Resolution

(Band 1)
Brian Latimour
Ralph Simpson
Mark O'Brien
Roger Partridge

"With one of the largest litigation teams in New Zealand, Bell Gully possesses outstanding depth of knowledge and resources."

Employment

(Band 1)
Rob Towner

"'Great depth of knowledge, strong experience and quick response times' are the key features attracting clients to this consistently top-ranking practice... Praised for its ability to deal with intricate matters, the team has recently worked on a number of complex and high-profile deals."

Intellectual Property

(Band 2)
Alan Ringwood
Ian Gault
Colleen Cavanagh

"With an excellent reputation for both contentious and non-contentious work, Bell Gully is highly commended by sources, who describe it as 'extremely thorough and full of great communicators.'"

Restructuring & Insolvency

(Band 1)
Murray Tingey

"...incorporates experts from the firm's litigation and corporate departments and acts primarily for liquidators and receivers."

Tax

(Band 1)
Niels Campbell
David Simcock
Willy Sussman

"This 'thorough and technically superior' firm receives shining accolades from sources, who recognise it as 'a very strong firm with some top individuals.'"

TMT

(Band 2)
Dean Oppenhuis

"...remains 'a very strong presence in the market,' and clients enthuse about 'the efficient and well-prepared lawyers who make issues easy to understand and are very proactive in finding solutions.'"

Climate Change

(Band 3)
Simon Watt
Kate Radka

"Although many law firms are now showing an interest in establishing climate change practices, "Bell Gully stands out from others because it has shown real commitment to this work from the start," report interviewees."

ENDS

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