Meredith Connell (MC) has announced the promotion of five new partners and one new special counsel – another strong promotion round for Aotearoa’s largest litigation firm.
These appointments bring MC’s partnership to 33 across its Auckland and Wellington offices. The new partners and special counsel join 16 newly promoted senior associates and associates.
“Our latest promotions represent our investment in ambitious growth and our development of a pipeline of diverse lawyers,” management board chair Mark Harborow said. ‘We congratulate them all on this significant milestone.
“We are incredibly proud of the breadth of talent and depth of expertise at MC,” Harborow said, “providing opportunities for our people to develop their skills and progress their career is a very important part of MC’s culture.”
Meredith Connell has been the Office of the Crown Solicitor for Auckland for more than 100 years and is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest and most established law firms with more than 160 lawyers across the full range of practice areas.
Partners*
Jack Cheng is an immigration expert who has successfully assisted hundreds of immigration clients, including on complicated matters involving significant financial, character, health or humanitarian issues. A member of The Law Association Immigration & Refugee Law Committee, he regularly shares his expertise at immigration seminars and conferences across Aotearoa New Zealand.
David Collins will lead MC’s local government practice, utilising his 17 years’ experience across a wide range of local government and regulatory work in Aotearoa and the UK. He is an expert in regulatory enforcement litigation, public law, and advisory work across the full suite of local government legislation. Collins is known for his efficient and pragmatic advice by MC’s local government clients throughout the country.
Danielle Houghton is an experienced litigator in the criminal and civil jurisdictions. She has particular expertise in regulatory matters including complex fair trading act and competition cases. Houghton frequently conducts jury trials under the Crown warrant and appears for the Crown in the High Court and Court of Appeal.
Andy Luck is a seasoned and skilled commercial and regulatory litigator with particular expertise in financial markets law, credit finance, and consumer law. He advises both government and private sector clients involved in some of Aotearoa’s largest and most complex commercial disputes. Astute and experienced, Luck is an effective courtroom advocate for his clients.
Elizabeth Rutherford is an expert in commercial, competition and public law. She has built a reputation for navigating complicated issues to deliver innovative and pragmatic solutions to both private-sector and government clients. Rutherford manages large-scale cases and acted on some of Aotearoa’s most complex disputes while continuing to lead criminal prosecutions for both the Crown and government agencies.
Special Counsel – Danielle Christoffersen is a specialist in asset structuring and a wide range of property matters, including relationship property, property sharing arrangements, trusts, commercial property acquisitions and sales, private sector developments and conveyancing, through to the sale of property under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 and the Insolvency Act 2006. Her advice and experience working in both Aotearoa and Australia is highly regarded by her clients across both the public and private sector.
* All new partners are subject to meeting all NZ Law Society requirements. The promotions took effect on July 1.
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