Bell Gully, AIA NZ and Chapman Tripp were the night's big winners
Bell Gully, AIA NZ and Chapman Tripp were the standard bearers for the New Zealand legal profession at the 2023 Australasian Law Awards, which was held last Thursday in Sydney.
Bell Gully’s Anna Buchly took home the trophy for NZ Dealmaker of the Year, highlighting the former firm chair’s remarkable acumen in the field as she beat out big names from Russell McVeagh, Webb Henderson, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Simpson Grierson and Chapman Tripp.
“Not only an impressive list of deals from this leading practitioner, but all the more impressive for their completion whilst supporting the legal profession more broadly with pro bono and board activities”, judges said of Buchly. They also pointed to her “strong commitment and contributions – especially concerning diversity and inclusion”.
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Although it missed out on Dealmaker of the Year, Chapman Tripp bounced right back with a big win for NZ Deal Firm of the Year. Judges remarked on the “impressive depth of team experience” and the “capacity to handle large numbers of complex deals”.
“The firm remains distinguished in the NZ market by its breadth and depth of expertise and its unfailing commitment to client service”, judges added.
Meanwhile, 2022 Excellence Awardee AIA NZ bested the Fonterra Legal Team this year to pick up the win for NZ In-House Team of the Year.
“This team exemplifies the desirable qualities of an in-house team which is to do good for the business and do good for the wider community and profession”, judges said of AIA NZ. “Impressive – working across such a breadth of matters and engaging extensively at the regulatory level. Great to see pro bono support in legal and non-legal work”.
The winners of the 2023 Australasian Law Awards were crowned last Thursday.