Russell McVeagh

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Russell McVeagh
HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
No. of offices2
No. of lawyers250+
No. of employees400+
Major practice areasCompetition, Corporate, Employment, Finance, Litigation, Property, Resource Management, Public Law and Tax
Key peopleAllison Arthur-Young (Chair), Jo Avenell (CEO)[1]
Date founded1863
FounderJohn Benjamin Russell
Websitewww.russellmcveagh.com

Russell McVeagh is a New Zealand law firm with offices in Auckland and Wellington. Along with Bell Gully and Chapman Tripp, it is considered to be one of the "Big Three" law firms in New Zealand.[2]

History

John Benjamin Russell (1834–1894) established a one-man practice in Auckland in 1863.[3] Various partners joined him before he was succeeded at the firm by his son Edward Robert Nolan Russell (1869–1939) in 1893.

In 1904 Robert McVeagh became a partner and remained involved in the firm until his death in 1944. In 1969 the firm merged with McKenzie & Bartleet to become Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet & Co, the name it held until 2000, when it became known simply as "Russell McVeagh".

The first legal job of the future politician Winston Peters after graduating in law in 1974 was with Russell McVeagh; he stayed until 1978 before leaving to become a politician.[4][5]

In 1988 the firm established its Wellington office with four founding partners.[6] It is on the panel of lawyers who are instructed by the New Zealand government to undertake legal work.[7]

It was reported on 14 October 2021 that Russell McVeagh intends to require all staff, clients, and visitors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Chief executive Jo Avenell said that many people are concerned about contacting unvaccinated people and that from 1 November 2021 all visitors must have received both vaccinations.[8]

Notable alumni

Prior to his current status as the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Stephen Kos was a litigation partner at Russell McVeagh, and was Chair of the Partnership from 2003–2005. He was later appointed as a Judge in the Wellington High Court in 2011 before being elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2015 and becoming the President of the Court of Appeal in 2016.

Court of Appeal Judge Lynton Stevens was a partner of Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartlett & Co between 1980 and 1992. He was later appointed as a Queens Counsel in 1997 before becoming a High Court Judge in 2006 and being elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2010.

High Court Judges Gerard Van Boheman, Christian Whata, Sarah Katz, Rebecca Edwards and Sally Fitzgerald all previously held roles at Russell McVeagh.

In addition to many judges, Russell McVeagh has also previously employed Tom Ashley, an Olympic Gold medallist in windsurfing, and netballer Charlotte Kight.

Community support

Russell McVeagh supports a range of different charities and organisations through its pro bono work. Recently, Russell McVeagh has assisted RainbowYOUTH on its merger with OuterSpaces.[9]

Rankings

Russell McVeagh is considered one of New Zealand's leading law firms, and has achieved high rankings in Banking and Finance,[10][11] Competition and Antitrust,[10] Corporate and M&A,[12][11] Capital Markets,[11] Dispute Resolution,[12] Project Development,[11] Real Estate,[12][10] Restructuring and Insolvency,[12] Tax,[10][12] and Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT).[12]

Controversy

In 2018 the firm was criticised in the media for its handling of sexual assault allegations, levelled against two senior male lawyers.[13] It was alleged that those lawyers engaged in non-consensual and consensual sexual acts with female intern students.[14][15] These allegations led all the six law schools in New Zealand to cut ties with Russell McVeagh.[16]

In 2018, the firm ordered an external investigation into the allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Dame Margaret Bazley was engaged to lead the inquiry into the claims of sexual harassment and assault.[17] Bazley's report was published in July 2018.[18] She found that the firm had a "work hard, play hard" culture that involved excessive drinking and in some cases inappropriate behaviour, but that this culture had changed over the past couple of years. She also found failings in the firm's response to the incidents and made 48 recommendations for improvement, which were accepted by the firm. The president of the New Zealand Law Society, Kathryn Beck, said the report was an "important milestone in shining light into the dark corners of our profession" and that she hoped it would help improve the culture of New Zealand law firms.[19] As of May 2019, the New Zealand law schools were re-evaluating whether they could resume a recruitment relationship with the firm.[20][21]

In February 2020, the firm said it had addressed the "majority" of Bazley's recommendations, including introducing a whistleblower service and a "speak-up" policy, but did not specifically comment on whether it had introduced a 10-year change implementation plan, a sexual harassment and sexual assault policy or a bullying policy. Steph Dyhrberg, convenor of the Wellington Women Lawyers' Association, said she was disappointed by the response.[22]

In February 2021, the firm said it had addressed nearly 95% of Bazley's recommendations, including introducing a whistleblower service and a "speak-up" policy, but some remain as works-in-progress.[23] In December 2020, CEO Jo Avenell said the law firm's response to the Covid-19 crisis proved to be a real test of how far it had come on its transformation path and a test of its culture reset following Dame Margaret Bazley's report.[24]

References

  1. ^ So, Jacqueline (24 February 2021). "Russell McVeagh elects new board and partnership chairs". NZ Lawyer. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  2. ^ "New Zealand – Legal Market Overview". The Legal 500. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  3. ^ Stone, R.C.J. "Russell, John Benjamin". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  4. ^ Hames, Martin Winston First: The unauthorised account of Winston Peters' career p7 (1995, Random House Auckland) ISBN 1 86941 257 5
  5. ^ "Winston Peters". Kōmako. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  6. ^ "History". Russell McVeagh. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  7. ^ Cowlishaw, Shane (27 February 2018). "Government has no plans to ditch law firm". Newsroom. Retrieved 7 December 2020. The law firm is on a panel of lawyers employed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to undertake government work, including sensitive issues such as ACC sexual abuse claims and human rights issues. [... Andrew Little] backed away when questioned about whether the Government, or government departments, should be reviewing their use of Russell McVeagh.
  8. ^ "Russell McVeagh shutting the door to unvaccinated staff, clients and visitors". Stuff. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Russell McVeagh advises RainbowYOUTH on merger with OuterSpaces". www.russellmcveagh.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d "Russell McVeagh, Asia-Pacific | Chambers Profiles". chambers.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d "Russell McVeagh | IFLR1000". www.iflr1000.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Russell McVeagh > Wellington > New Zealand | The Legal 500 law firm profiles". www.legal500.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  13. ^ Hancock, Farah; Reid, Melanie; Borissenko, Sasha (22 February 2018). "Why wasn't the Law Society told?". Newsroom. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Law firm slammed: 'It was like a frat house'". NewsComAu. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  15. ^ "Law interns' sexual assault complaints come to light". Radio New Zealand. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Six NZ universities cut ties with law firm Russell McVeagh in wake of sexual harassment claims". NZ Herald. 1 March 2018. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  17. ^ Reid, Melanie; Murphy, Tim; Borissenko, Sasha (12 March 2018). "Bazley to head inquiry into 'sexual harassment'". Newsroom.co.nz. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  18. ^ Bazley, Margaret (March–June 2018). "Independent Review of Russell McVeagh" (PDF). Russell McVeagh. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  19. ^ Hunt, Tom; Macandrew, Ruby (5 July 2018). "Bazley report: A light shines into Russell McVeagh law firm and what it shows isn't good". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  20. ^ McPhee, Elena (3 May 2019). "Russell McVeagh ties to law schools re-evaluated". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  21. ^ MacManus, Joel; Mau, Alison (22 May 2019). "Otago law students not ready to forgive Russell McVeagh". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  22. ^ Hunt, Tom; Mau, Alison (14 February 2020). "Russell McVeagh's #Metoo moment: two years on what has changed?". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Wait goes on, three years after law firm Russell McVeagh's #Metoo moment". Stuff. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Dynamic Business: Russell McVeagh CEO Jo Avenell on transforming during a crisis". NZ Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

External links

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