Andrew Steele begins practising as a barrister sole next month
Martelli McKegg litigation partner Andrew Steele will be departing the firm next month to join Princes Chambers as a barrister sole.
Steele joined Martelli McKegg in 2006, and has been a partner at the firm for 14 years. He has advised clients on various commercial and property disputes and employment relationship matters; his areas of expertise include trust and estates disputes and working with the building sector.
Prior to his tenure at Martelli McKegg, Steele was a partner at Chamberlains. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand in 1988, and is also qualified to practise as a solicitor in England and Wales. He has appeared before the District and High Courts of New Zealand as a counsel, as well as before the Court of Appeal, Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court.
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He is a costs assessor for the New Zealand Law Society (NZLS), and has contributed articles to the NZ Law Journal. He has also presented at Auckland District Law Society (ADLS) and NZLS seminars.
As a barrister sole, Steele will be focusing on trust and estates-centred civil litigation.
“I made the difficult decision to depart Martelli McKegg Lawyers after 15 years with that firm to pursue my interest in equity and litigation involving estates and trusts,” he said. “It was simply time to launch out from being a litigation generalist, a role I’ve had for over 30 years, to focus on new challenges with a greater focus on the area of law that sparks my passion.”
A member of the Auckland District Law Society, Steele said that collaborating with “some of the profession’s foremost practitioners in the field” on the organisation’s trusts committee fuelled his appetite to expand his knowledge on “all things trust and equity-related.”
He opted to make the jump to Princes Chambers because “my esteemed colleagues there share a common attitude towards excellence in the law,” he said. The chambers’ proximity to the Auckland High Court is a “serendipitous bonus.”
As he prepares to depart, Steele praised the partners and staff at Martelli McKegg.
“While I leave my friends there with genuine sadness, I am content that I leave the firm in ‘good heart’ – it has never been stronger and its future is bright,” he said.
Steele starts with Princes Chambers on 1 October.