LawTalk 861 · 27 March 2015
Our Profession, Our People
On the move Wellington Julia White and Thaddeus Ryan both have experience in all aspects of environment and resource management law. Julia advises on the full spectrum of issues facing local government clients. She Thaddeus Ryan also advises commercial clients on gaining statutory approvals for their infrastructure projects. Thaddeus has rejoined the team after working for three years in a boutique London planning and environmental law firm, and has Anna Wishart a particular focus on RMA consenting and designation processes for large infrastructure projects. In Christchurch, Anna Wishart is a member of the commercial team and is experienced in general commercial, corporate and Tim Lester property law matters, with particular experience with infrastructure projects including airports, power generation and matters relating to the Christchurch earthquakes. Tim Lester is also a member of the commercial team and is experienced in general corporate, commercial and property law matters and advises in relation to corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracting, consumer terms and conditions, commercial, rural and residential property transactions. Kirsty Osprey, formerly of Child, Youth & Family (Christchurch) legal team, has joined Ebborn Law as a senior solicitor.
Kirsty Osprey
Arran Hunt has moved to Turner Hopkins where he will be working with the commercial and immigration teams. Arran will also Arran Hunt continue to specialise in assisting clients with their IT legal requirements.
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Scholarship winner Kiri Toki is the winner of the 2014/2015 Yvonne A M Smith Charitable Trust Scholarship. Kiri, whose goal is to be New Zealand’s leading expert on the interface between commercial law and indigenous peoples, will use the scholarship to study for an LLM at Harvard, Columbia or NYU Law School.
Laura Sepschat (nee Wilson) has joined employment law firm SBM Legal as an associate. Laura is a specialist employment lawyer and comes to SBM from an in-house role. Laura Sepschat
Kirsten Ferguson has joined Morrison Kent in Wellington as an associate in the Māori legal and commercial teams. Kirsten specialises in corporate Kirsten Ferguson governance, commercial contracts and intellectual property. Before joining Morrison Kent, Kirsten operated her own general practice law firm and that followed legal roles in both the private and public sectors. DLA Piper New Zealand has appointed employment law and health and safety specialist Laura Scampion as its first partner appointment since becoming DLA Piper New Zealand. Before joinLaura Scampion ing the firm, Laura worked
Raised on Great Barrier Island, Kiri is passionate about the Māori economy. She aims to facilitate the growth of the Māori economy which she believes can transform New Zealand by: » empowering Māori to move out of the negative socioeconomic indicators they currently occupy and realise self-determination; and » f o s t e r i n g u n d e r standing between Māori and the wider community based on shared economic interests, rather than cultural differences. For more information on Mrs Smith, who founded the Yvonne A M Smith Charitable Trust, see http://yvonnesmith.org.nz.
in the London headquarters of PwC advising international clients on employment. Auckland boutique corporate law firm Brown Partners has appointed Ron Arieli a senior lawyer. Ron joined Brown Partners in 2011 after two years in the corporate and commercial group at Chapman Tripp. Ron Arieli Ron specialises in business and company acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures and shareholder agreements as well as being experienced in general corporate advisory work and commercial contracts.
Law firm news DLA Phillips Fox has become DLA Piper New Zealand. This, says the firm in a media release, makes it the first global business law firm in New Zealand. The change formalises the growing integration of the New Zealand firm with the global business law firm DLA Piper which has 4,200 lawyers in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. DLA Piper New Zealand has a team of 25 partners and 67 lawyers.