Lane Neave

Aaron Pickett

Aaron is Head of Lane Neave’s Corporate team in Christchurch and has extensive experience working for a wide range of leading international and local corporate clients over a period of more than 20 years across New Zealand, Australia and the UK. Aaron has particular expertise in private mergers and acquisitions (the sale and purchase of shares and/or assets), joint ventures and Public Private Partnerships (with Government), private equity investments and start-ups, in addition to day-to-day contracting and legal issues that arise in operating a business. He advises on complex transactions, including shareholder arrangements, on both a legal and commercial basis, with a key strength being his ability to pragmatically work through complexities and arrive at negotiated solutions in the best interests of his clients. Aaron is currently admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of New Zealand. He has previously worked in corporate teams at leading international law firms MinterEllisonRuddWatts in Auckland, Herbert Smith Freehills in Sydney and Allen & Overy LLP in London, specialising in public and private mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and corporate reorganisations. Aaron also has over nine years General Counsel and Executive experience at a high growth / dynamic global healthcare organisation. This combination of private practice and industry experience means that Aaron knows first-hand what a business needs (and wants) from their legal advisors – the ability to translate complex theory and regulation into practical and commercially relevant advice.

Andrew Shaw

Andrew is the Managing Partner of Lane Neave and he heads the Employment Law Team. He has 28 years experience and is recognised as one of New Zealand’s top employment, ACC and health & safety law practitioners. Andrew is currently on the New Zealand Law Society ACC Committee, having previously been on the New Zealand Law Society Employment Law Committee (for six years), where he assists in providing guidance on proposed legislation. Andrew is a preferred legal practitioner for the New Zealand Law Society to refer vulnerable claimants for specialist and complex legal advice in his specialist areas. He is also a mentor for other law practitioners. Andrew is an experienced litigator and he has appeared in the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court and ordinary Courts, including the Court of Appeal and advising on a Supreme Court appeal. Andrew also regularly participates in private and MBIE mediations. Andrew has a strong interest in public policy, as this relates to his specialist areas, and as such he is contacted by the media to make comment on current issues of importance. He is also involved in assisting a number of charities, include the Stroke Foundation and MS & Parkinson Society. The Employment Law Team has been a past multiple winner at the New Zealand Law Awards and it is currently on the Government Legal Panel, and provides advice to a number of State and Local Government entities around New Zealand. Experience / Work Highlights Andrew has been involved in a number of highly publicised matters, including acting for the Chinese Embassy providing advice to families of deceased children in the 2011 Christchurch Earthquakes, Christchurch City Council’s exit of its CEO, and Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority exit of its CEO. Andrew has been lead counsel in a number of recent employment law cases including: Q v New Zealand Police, JCE v Department of Corrections, Williamson v Gore DC and Walford v Department of Corrections. Andrew was also junior counsel in New Zealand’s first health and safety defended prosecution in 1994, under the previous Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992: Department of Labour v de Spa. Andrew provides high level strategic advice to Boards of Directors, including company-wide redundancies, exit of senior level executives, health & safety and independent reviews of complaints. Andrew is experienced in change proposals, and he advises on company-wide restructures, including in the context of Covid 19. He has provided initial advice to Orion New Zealand Limited in relation to the recent Port Hills fires (2017). Andrew regularly presents at workshops and webinars thought New Zealand for organisations including WorkSafe NZ, ACC, The New Zealand Law Society, New Zealand Accountants Society, Private International CPD Educational Providers and numerous member based organisations. Professional Andrew is recognised in Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and Doyles Guide as a leading employment and health & safety practitioner in New Zealand. Andrew is a member of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand and he is on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner – Directory of Privacy Professionals Register. Andrew is one of the lawyers to New Zealand’s Tourism Industry Association, Bus and Coach Association, Rental Vehicle Association, Regional Tourism Organisation, Backpacker, Youth, Adventure Tourism Association and Holiday Park Association.

Andrew Comer

Andrew is a Partner in Lane Neave’s Corporate team (Auckland office). He regularly advises a broad range of domestic and international clients, from individuals and start-ups through to multi-national organisations, on corporate and commercial law. Andrew’s particular focus is on private mergers and acquisitions (business sales), business structuring, joint ventures, consumer protection, corporate advisory and governance, capital raising and company secretarial matters. Prior to joining Lane Neave, Andrew worked in private practice at leading law firms in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom. He has also worked as in-house legal advisor at investment banks and commercial enterprises in both jurisdictions. Andrew holds a Master of Laws (Hons) in crypto-assets from the University of Auckland, and has advised clients on the legal and regulatory implications of various crypto-related projects, including in respect of security token offerings, tokenised property schemes, non-fungible token (NFT) launches, initial coin (cryptocurrency) offerings, structuring and asset protection, the sale and purchase of crypto-assets, terms of trade and crypto-mining.

Anna Ryan

Anna specialises in corporate and commercial law and leads Lane Neave’s competition law team. She routinely advises on the Commerce Act, Fair Trading Act and all aspects of competition and consumer law. Anna is also the principal contact for Lane Neave’s intellectual property practice and acts on a wide range of trade mark, copyright and other intellectual property matters. Anna holds a Masters Degree from the University of Melbourne in Competition and Consumer Protection Law, and Chairs the Advisory Board of the Competition Law and Policy Institute of New Zealand. She also Chairs the Board of the Canterbury Society of Arts, which operates CoCA, Christchurch’s Contemporary Art Gallery.

Ben Russell

Ben is a dispute resolution specialist with broad experience in commercial litigation and insolvency law. He advises clients on a range of commercial issues including contract, property, insurance, and shareholder disputes. He regularly represents clients as lead counsel in the High Court and in mediations. Ben often acts for clients in the property and agribusiness sectors, and represents them in disputes about matters such as leases, caveats, agreements for sale and purchase, and ownership of land. Throughout his career, Ben has been involved in advising stakeholders in complex corporate insolvencies, particularly in relation to contentious aspects and bringing claims to recover and protect assets. Lane Neave applies a strategic and pragmatic approach to resolving commercial disputes. As the head of our dispute resolution practice, Ben leads a team of lawyers with a wide range of skills that can be applied to help achieve our clients’ goals.

Carlo Wan

Carlo specialises in all aspects of financial services, financial markets and regulatory matters. He also provides advice on all aspects of corporate law ranging from mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, commercial contracts and investment funds. Carlo’s clients include internationally listed and unlisted corporates, Chinese state-owned entities, financial institutions, security brokerages and international consumer brands. Notable work includes: acting for the Ullrich family on the sale of Ullrich Aluminium Co Ltd to Vulcan Steel Limited for NZ$165m; acting for Up Fintech Holding Limited on its IPO on the NASDAQ for approximately US$104m; advising a PRC Fortune Global 500 company on divesting its forestry asset for NZ$45.6m; advising a NASDAQ listed entity on share issuance requirements; advising the largest credit union in New Zealand on its internal restructuring; advising various international security brokerages on New Zealand related compliance and regulatory matters, including obtaining FMA exemptions and preparation of AML policies; assisting on the incorporation of various finance companies including obtaining the relevant FSP registration, advising and advised on all aspects of AML compliance and other regulatory matters; advising a solar company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange on its product entry into New Zealand; and advising various Hong Kong and Chinese listed entities on due diligence and M&A transactions in New Zealand. Before joining Lane Neave, Carlo worked for national law firms in both New Zealand and Australia.

Evelyn Jones

Evelyn leads the banking and finance practice at Lane Neave. She has extensive experience in corporate and institutional lending transactions, property finance, leveraged and acquisition finance. Evelyn has advised on domestic and international transactions and her experience includes the coordination of offshore counsel in relation to the granting of local law governed securities and guarantees, as well as acting as New Zealand counsel on international transactions. Evelyn is a technical and solution-focused adviser. She has particular expertise in securitisation and other structured and financial products (including derivatives). She also provides advice on financial sector regulation, including recent changes to the consumer credit legislation in New Zealand. Before joining Lane Neave, Evelyn has worked at other major law firms in New Zealand and in London. She has also worked in-house (on secondment and on contract) at a major bank and a leading consumer finance product company in New Zealand. Evelyn is personally ranked by Legal 500, Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers and IFLR1000.

Fiona McMillan

Fiona is a Partner of the employment law team and commenced her career with Lane Neave in 2007. Fiona specialises in assisting employers with all employment law related advice including collective bargaining, independent external investigations and human rights commission matters. Fiona has built strong relationships with a number of different industries, including corporate, tourism, the bus and coach industry and manufacturing. Fiona has a hands on style of practice which involves working in a business as opposed to working alongside it. Fiona regularly presents seminars to clients, industry bodies and at conferences. Experience / Work highlights Assisting employers with all employment law related advice including employment relations, health and safety, human rights, privacy and ACC. Advising employees and employers on all aspects of termination including performance management, misconduct, serious misconduct, medical incapacity, restructurings and redundancies and negotiated exits. Advising employers on relationships with Unions including Collective Bargaining and industrial action. Regularly representing employers in Mediations, Employment Relations Authority Investigation Meetings and the Employment Court Acting as Counsel on the leading case on penalties – Borsboom v PVT Limited and the leading case on union discrimination – Lamont and Others v Ritchies Transport Holdings Limited. Professional Fiona was nominated for Young Lawyer of the Year at the 2016 Law Awards. In 2020, Fiona was named in the Doyle’s Guide New Zealand as a recommended Health and Safety Lawyer. Fiona has also been recognised in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners as a leading employment and health and safety practitioner in New Zealand.

James Cochrane

James is a partner in our Dispute Resolution and Litigation team. He has significant banking and finance, insolvency, and insurance experience. He is also passionate about cryptocurrency/crypto-assets and Web3 technology. James identifies problems before they arise and provides pragmatic solutions. Whether you’re involved in a complex commercial dispute or a matter of personal importance, James has a range of experience, skills and connections to help you achieve the outcome that you want. James is experienced in alternative dispute resolution and regularly represents clients in courts and tribunals. He represents a range of clients from individuals and startups through to large multinational corporates. In addition to working on some of New Zealand’s most notable insolvencies, and being involved in a range of high profile commercial and insurance related matters, he has advised many clients interested in digital assets. These include insolvency practitioners; private wealth clients in relation to litigation, tax, asset acquisition, structuring, protection and property transfer; and businesses in relation to NFTs, gaming, crypto- mining, capital raising, structuring/decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), and the regulatory landscape. James is a member of the Crypto Legal Working Group and was recently on the Executive Council for Blockchain NZ, a leading digital assets industry group; he is a member of RITANZ the leading insolvency industry group; and a founding member of NZICM, an industry group for credit management professionals. James was named by NZ Lawyer as a “changemaker” in its 2023 Most Influential Lawyers rankings. He is ranked by Doyles as a Leading Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyer – New Zealand, 2022.

Joshua Leckie

Joshua is a resource management and environmental lawyer, with extensive experience across a range of projects and transactions. He leads Lane Neave’s national resource management team. Before joining Lane Neave he worked at a major New Zealand law firm. He regularly advises on the development of nationally significant projects under the Resource Management Act and associated legal regimes across New Zealand. He and his experienced team also provide a wide range of associated project development and commercial property related advice, including on overseas investments in New Zealand involving sensitive land. Joshua’s clients include major property development and investment companies, iwi, and businesses with significant land use requirements. He acts on many of New Zealand’s most contentious resource management projects, which are summarised here. Joshua is well connected to experienced result driven expert witnesses in New Zealand’s resource management industry and has a commercially focused approach. He brings a unique skill set to assist clients. Joshua is ranked as a leading Environment & Resource Management Lawyer in the 2022 Doyle’s Guide for New Zealand.

Mike King

Mike is a Partner in Lane Neave’s dispute resolution and litigation team. Mike has over 10 years’ experience appearing in Court on a variety of commercial disputes including property matters, shareholder disputes, agribusiness, defamation and insolvency matters. Mike also has specialist expertise in acting for clients involved in relationship property and trust and estate disputes in both the Family Court and High Court. Outside of work Mike takes a keen interest in sport, business and governance and is a board member of a local SME and former board member of Touch Canterbury.

Rebecca Scott

Rebecca is a Partner in Lane Neave’s dispute resolution and litigation team. She has over 20 years’ experience both in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Rebecca has advised and appeared in Court on a wide range of commercial and civil litigation disputes including shareholder disputes, negligence, property claims and family disputes. She has particular expertise in electricity litigation and agribusiness issues. Rebecca acts for a diverse range of clients including large organisations and public entities as well as small businesses and individuals. Rebecca also has an interest in governance and provides advice on director and shareholder issues. She has previously been an intern director on the board of Christchurch City Holdings Limited and currently sits on an advisory board. Rebecca is a member of one of the New Zealand Law Society’s standards committee which considers complaints against lawyers. She is the former convener of the litigation committee of the Canterbury-Westland branch of the New Zealand Law Society.

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