Chambers and Partners have announced their Asia-Pacific Guide Rankings for 2023 overnight and Bankside is delighted to have been ranked Band 1 in New Zealand for the second year in a row for Dispute Resolution: The Bar, with 14 Bankside barristers receiving rankings.
Bankside has been acknowledged to be both one of the largest and one of the most prestigious sets in New Zealand: upholding a tradition of eminence in the alternative dispute resolution sphere, housing leading arbitrators and mediators and maintaining a permanent presence in Singapore. As one source said "[t]he chambers is filled with New Zealand's leading barristers and several of them are the leading individuals in their respective fields."
Chambers and Partners has a full time team of 200 research analysts dedicated to contacting lawyers and clients directly throughout the year, reviewing submissions and conducting interviews with references supplied to them by each chamber.
We would like to acknowledge the following barristers for moving up in the ranks.
Previously Band 2 in 2022, Christine Meechan KC has been ranked Band 1: "Christine Meechan KC is at the top of her field. She has an incisive intellect and a keen strategic brain, and is the person you want at your side in a tough fight."
Jason Goodall KC has been ranked New Silks for the first time, recommended by a client for his "collaborative and inclusive approach to working with his instructing solicitors and a constructive and pragmatic approach to progressing litigation.”
Tom Weston KC has been ranked Band 1 for the second year in a row: "Tom has a brilliant mind and quickly absorbs all the details of complex fact scenarios and technical evidence. He is also extremely pleasant to work with."
Laura O'Gorman KC has been ranked Band 3 (previously New Silks): "Laura has a ferocious intellect. One of the smartest lawyers around. Her capacity to distil complex facts down to easily digestible submissions, which are then delivered clearly and succinctly in court, is matched by very few."
In Juniors, Jeremy Johnson has been ranked Band 2 (previously Band 3 in 2022) with one client recommending Jeremy for being "highly intellectual”, a barrister who “can easily handle the most complex legal matters while also maintaining a wider strategic view of the case."
Sarah Jerebine has been ranked for the first time in Band 3. Sarah has been praised for being "a very good advocate who quickly identifies problems likely to arise during the course of litigation from early in the brief."
For the full list of ranked Bankside barristers, see below.
We would like to thank all our clients for their support and participation in the 2023 Chambers and Partners' research, and congratulate all Bankside members for contributing to this outstanding achievement.
Silks (KC)
Dispute Resolution: The Bar
The Dispute Resolution section covers litigation and alternative dispute resolution proceedings – pre-trial negotiations, documentation and preparation for trial, summary judgement applications, trial, appeals and enforcement proceedings. Chambers and Partners also specify that this section covers white-collar crime, including government investigations.
Band 1
Christine has been recognised for her adept management of large and complex pieces of litigation in general, and for expert handling of construction and insurance-related disputes in particular
Tom has a strong reputation for his broad and highly varied commercial litigation practice which incorporates a particularly strong construction and trust-related component.
Band 3
Derek is noted for his assured handling of environmental and resource management-related matters. This is an area in which he practises regularly and upon which he is also a published authority and acknowledged thought leader.
Kate Davenport KC
"Kate is a great litigator, works well with clients and negotiates pragmatic outcomes."
Kate acts prominently on trust, estate and contractual disputes and on matters of professional regulation. Kate is qualified to practise in both New Zealand and the UK, and is an experienced handler of cross-border disputes, notably including conflict of laws cases. Her recent caseload includes noted matters addressing questions of workplace harassment and bullying and the extent to which organisations dedicated to 'traditional' views of marriage and family life can be recognised as charities.
Having previously practised at a leading law firm for over 20 years, Laura brings impressive litigation experience and maintains a broad commercial practice within which contractual, competition and insolvency-related matters feature particularly prominently.
"Simon is highly intelligent and has shown the ability to stride across a vast area of legal disputes. He has the ability to alter his delivery to match his client and the matter. I have never been disappointed in his work, and I can not recommend him more highly."
Simon focuses on disputes arising in the construction and engineering spheres, offering extensive experience in the fields of both litigation and international arbitration, and is additionally noted as an accomplished handler of certain classes of criminal case and complex commercial disputes.
New Silks
Jason has a varied commercial litigation practice which embraces a significant body of financial services-related work and significant experience at the High Court and Court of Appeal levels.
High Net Worth: The Bar
Work in this area includes but is not limited to: charitable planning; wealth transfer; business succession planning; estate: life and health insurance planning: the creation and administration of trusts and estates; asset transfer. See more.
Spotlight Table
Lady Deborah has been recognised for her handling of relationship property and trust litigation matters generally, and of high-profile divorce cases in particular, with her handling of such matters when they involve multi-jurisdictional aspects attracting especially favourable notice.
Intellectual Property: The Bar
Intellectual Property covers disputes related to patent, copyright and trademark infringement, litigation concerning trade secrets, and commercial and transactional issues.
Spotlight Table
Regularly identified as one of New Zealand's pre-eminent intellectual property silks, Andrew offers expertise covering the full range of copyright, patent and trademark issues and extensive experience of litigation at High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court level.
Juniors
Dispute Resolution: The Bar
Band 2
Jeremy has been recognised for being active in a variety of areas of commercial litigation and arbitration, with expertise across trusts, relationship property and company law.
Band 3
"[Graeme] has real expertise in the construction field at a high level of complexity."
Specialising in construction law disputes, Graeme has over 40 years' experience and has acquired largely with leading solicitors' firms in both New Zealand and London.
Lauren is noted for simultaneously maintaining busy domestic litigation and international arbitration practices, acting on matters arising from an impressively varied range of business sectors and addressing both complex contractual disputes and criminal cases with significant commercial components.
Sarah is reputed for disputes in the public law sphere, with significant experience advising the Crown.
High Net Worth: The Bar
Spotlight Table
"Rebecca is very quick to grasp the issues and has very strong instincts as to how to deal with any matter put before her. She is very strategic in her approach to matters and in any steps she takes to consider the overall outcome she is seeking to obtain for her clients."
Rebecca conducts a varied practice, spanning civil, commercial and public law issues. Rebecca is particularly well known for her handling of high-stakes cases involving private clients and disputes involving trusts and estates.
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