Simpson Grierson stands out as a ‘strong’ choice for its diverse range of clients, who turn to the team for its wide-ranging capabilities on all aspects of environmental law. The team regularly acts on large-scale water and wastewater projects. Urban development, energy and infrastructure issues are the flagship components of the team’s workload. The practice is jointly steered by Bill Loutit, Padraig McNamara and Matt Conway. From the Auckland office, Loutit specialises in litigation and alternative dispute resolution in the administrative law, environmental, resource management, and local government fields, whilst McNamara is a key port of call for councils and corporate clients on resource management and public body issues. Wellington-based Conway has been described as a ’legal expert in the field of resource management’. Sarah Scott leads the firm’s South Island local government and environment group and is recommended for her focus on litigation, strategic planning and policy. Leading construction and major project specialist Michael Weatherall is also a name to note.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The practice has a strong resource management team.’
‘Matt Conway is an excellent advocate and legal expert in the field of resource management and has very good intuition and people relationship skills.’
Key clients
- New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd
- Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Work highlights
- Acting for Auckland Transport and the Eastern Busway Alliance on resource consent applications, Notices of Requirements and the acquisition of land to enable the development of the Eastern Busway Project.
- Advising Auckland Light Rail (ALR), we are joint legal advisors, together with Buddle Findlay, on the Auckland Light Rail project. This transformative public transport project will connect two major employment hubs - Auckland CBD and Auckland International Airport - and halve the travel time between them.