Competition/Antitrust - New Zealand
What the team is known for
Chapman Tripp handles an array of key issues across the competition sector, including merger approvals, abuse of market power issues and compliance audits. The practice is in addition active across a comparably diverse range of sectors, including energy, financial services, infrastructure and telecommunications, and sought after for its wealth of experience advising large New Zealand corporates, government institutions and multinationals on both domestic and international mandates. The firm is also noted for its handling of business-critical investigatory and litigation assignments, including cartel-related issues and criminal competition and consumer law cases.
Strengths
"Chapman Tripp are very good at providing strategic advice - not just telling us what the law is. That’s particularly helpful when dealing with regulators."
"The Chapman Tripp team are very experienced in their areas of law. They provide excellent client service and make themselves available to us as and when we need them."
"They are top class in terms of understanding the legal framework in which we are operating and finding pragmatic solutions - not being overly technical but also protecting our interests."
Notable practitioners
Lucy Cooper is based in Wellington, and her versatile practice sees her advising clients across a comprehensive range of issues from merger clearances to cartel investigations. "Lucy is an expert in the field with serious cross-border ability." "She does not over-engineer her advice and provides it in an accessible way."
Matt Sumpter is a published authority on competition law who acts principally on contentious issues in the space, including potentially criminal matters, though he is also an experienced handler of merger control negotiations with the Commerce Commission. He is based in Auckland. "Matt is good at getting to heart of what the issue is."
Simon Peart is based in Wellington and focuses on regulatory issues in the competition sphere. He is particularly familiar with the way in which those issues impact on players in the infrastructure and utilities sectors. "Simon is a key partner. He is very personable, very intelligent, smart and pragmatic when finding solutions."
