Russell McVeagh

Russell McVeagh is a New Zealand law firm with offices in Auckland and Wellington. Along with Bell Gully and Chapman Tripp, it is considered to be one of the "Big Three" law firms in New Zealand.[1]

Russell McVeagh
HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
No. of offices2
No. of lawyers250+
No. of employees400+
Major practice areasCompetition, Corporate, Employment, Finance, Litigation, Property, Resource Management, Public Law and Tax
Key peoplePip Greenwood (Chairman), Gary McDiarmid (CEO)
Date founded1863
FounderJohn Benjamin Russell
Websitewww.russellmcveagh.com

History

John Benjamin Russell (1834-1894) established a one-man practice in Auckland in 1863.[2] Various partners joined him before he was succeeded at the firm by his son Edward Robert Nolan Russell (1869-1939) in 1893.

In 1904 Robert McVeagh became a partner and remained involved in the firm until his death in 1944. In 1969 the firm merged with McKenzie & Bartleet to become Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet & Co, the name it held until 2000, when it became known simply as "Russell McVeagh".

The first legal job of the future politician Winston Peters after graduating in law in 1974 was with Russell McVeagh; he stayed until 1978 before leaving to become a politician.[3][4]

In 1988 the firm established its Wellington office with four founding partners.[5] It is on the panel of lawyers who are instructed by the New Zealand government to undertake legal work.[6]

Controversy

In 2018 the firm was criticised in the media for its handling of sexual assault allegations, levelled against two senior male lawyers.[7] It was alleged that those lawyers engaged in non-consensual and consensual sexual acts with female intern students.[8][9] These allegations led all the six law schools in New Zealand to cut ties with Russell McVeagh.[10]

In 2018, the firm ordered an external investigation into the allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Dame Margaret Bazley was engaged to lead the inquiry into the claims of sexual harassment and assault.[11] Bazley's report was published in July 2018.[12] She found that the firm had a "work hard, play hard" culture that involved excessive drinking and in some cases inappropriate behaviour, but that this culture had changed over the past couple of years. She also found failings in the firm's response to the incidents and made 48 recommendations for improvement, which were accepted by the firm. The president of the New Zealand Law Society, Kathryn Beck, said the report was an "important milestone in shining light into the dark corners of our profession" and that she hoped it would help improve the culture of New Zealand law firms.[13] As of May 2019, the New Zealand law schools were re-evaluating whether they could resume a recruitment relationship with the firm.[14][15]

In February 2020, the firm said it had addressed the "majority" of Bazley's recommendations, including introducing a whistleblower service and a "speak-up" policy, but did not specifically comment on whether it had introduced a 10-year change implementation plan, a sexual harassment and sexual assault policy or a bullying policy. Steph Dyhrberg, convenor of the Wellington Women Lawyers' Association, said she was disappointed by the response.[16]

References
  1. "New Zealand - Legal Market Overview". The Legal 500. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  2. Stone, R.C.J. "Russell, John Benjamin". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  3. Hames, Martin Winston First: The unauthorised account of Winston Peters' career p7 (1995, Random House Auckland) ISBN 1 86941 257 5
  4. "Winston Peters". Kōmako. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  5. "History". Russell McVeagh. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  6. Cowlishaw, Shane (27 February 2018). "Government has no plans to ditch law firm". Newsroom. Retrieved 7 December 2020. The law firm is on a panel of lawyers employed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to undertake government work, including sensitive issues such as ACC sexual abuse claims and human rights issues. [... Andrew Little] backed away when questioned about whether the Government, or government departments, should be reviewing their use of Russell McVeagh.
  7. Hancock, Farah; Reid, Melanie; Borissenko, Sasha (22 February 2018). "Why wasn't the Law Society told?". Newsroom. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  8. "Law firm slammed: 'It was like a frat house'". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  9. "Law interns' sexual assault complaints come to light". Radio New Zealand. 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  10. "Six NZ universities cut ties with law firm Russell McVeagh in wake of sexual harassment claims". NZ Herald. 2018-03-01. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  11. Reid, Melanie; Murphy, Tim; Borissenko, Sasha (12 March 2018). "Bazley to head inquiry into 'sexual harassment'". Newsroom.co.nz. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  12. Bazley, Margaret (March–June 2018). "Independent Review of Russell McVeagh" (PDF). Russell McVeagh. Retrieved 13 November 2020.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  13. Hunt, Tom; Macandrew, Ruby (5 July 2018). "Bazley report: A light shines into Russell McVeagh law firm and what it shows isn't good". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  14. McPhee, Elena (3 May 2019). "Russell McVeagh ties to law schools re-evaluated". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  15. MacManus, Joel; Mau, Alison (22 May 2019). "Otago law students not ready to forgive Russell McVeagh". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  16. Hunt, Tom; Mau, Alison (14 February 2020). "Russell McVeagh's #Metoo moment: two years on what has changed?". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
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