LawFuel Names Scott Russell 2025 New Zealand Lawyer Of The Year After Landmark Banking Class Action Victory

Auckland / Wellington, New Zealand – 30 December 2025 – LawFuel, New Zealand’s longrunning online law news and analysis platform, today announced that commercial litigator Scott Russell has been named 2025 New Zealand Lawyer of the Year following his role leading the country’s most significant consumer banking class action.

Russell, a partner at Russell Veen Holden, acted for plaintiffs in proceedings that led to ASB agreeing to pay $135.6 million to settle claims over unlawful “penalty” and dishonour fees, the largest consumer class action settlement in New Zealand history, with materially similar claims still on foot against ANZ. Built on Section 89 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, the litigation challenges fees that allegedly bore no genuine relationship to the banks’ underlying costs, reshaping the legal and commercial risk calculus for all major institutions charging comparable fees.

Recognition for Impact, Not Optics

Announcing the award, LawFuel said Russell’s selection reflected the substantive impact of the banking class action on both consumer rights and corporate conduct, rather than traditional metrics such as transaction size or profile of court appearances.

“Scott Russell’s work on the banking class action has delivered realworld financial redress for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders and forced powerful institutions to answer for fee practices that had gone untested for years,” said LawFuel’s editorial team.

“This is precisely the kind of muscular, highstakes litigation that demonstrates how existing consumer protection laws can be enforced to meaningful effect when a lawyer is prepared to see a case through.”

The ASB settlement – which remains subject to final High Court approval – is expected to see compensation paid to approximately 180,000 customers who were charged excessive fees over nearly a decade, while ANZ continues to defend parallel claims arising from a similar fee model.

A Track Record of Monitoring New Zealand’s Legal Leaders

LawFuel has been reporting on New Zealand’s key lawyers, law firms and legal developments since 2001, building one of the longestrunning dedicated lawnews and platforms with a substantial audience of lawyers and law firms in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Over that period, LawFuel has tracked the rise of litigators, dealmakers and legal innovators across commercial, criminal, public and technology law, with a particular focus in recent years on class actions, litigation funding, legal tech and AI, law firm strategy and legal career developments.

For almost 15 years, LawFuel has also conferred annual “Lawyer of the Year” honours and published its influential LawFuel Power List, profiling New Zealand’s most powerful and impactful lawyers working in private practice, inhouse roles and public law. The Lawyer of the Year recognition is reserved for practitioners whose work has produced outsized practical consequences – from reshaping regulatory regimes to securing precedentsetting judgments or settlements – rather than those whose influence is measured solely by billings or firm size.

About Scott Russell

Russell’s practice focuses on complex commercial disputes and class actions, drawing on experience in leading New Zealand firms, regulatory roles and international inhouse positions. With backing from litigation funders LPF Group and CASL, and support from senior counsel including Davey Salmon KC, he has helped pioneer a modern, funded class action model in New Zealand capable of withstanding protracted, institutionally defended litigation.

LawFuel’s 2025 recognition comes as the implications of the banking class action continue to unfold, both in the ongoing ANZ proceedings and in potential followon claims in other consumerfacing sectors where small individual losses aggregate into substantial systemic harm.

About LawFuel

Founded in 2001, LawFuel is a dedicated online law news and information service covering New Zealand and international legal developments, with a particular focus on law firm marketing, legal careers and pay, litigation trends, legal technology and AI, and profiles of leading practitioners. LawFuel’s Power List and Lawyer of the Year awards series have become reference points for understanding influence and innovation within the New Zealand legal profession, relied upon by lawyers, general counsel, recruiters and media.

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