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We are delighted that Chapman Tripp Partners Rachel Dunne and Nicola Swan have been included on NZ Lawyer’s 2023 Elite Women List.
The list includes 50 exceptional female leaders that have influenced the New Zealand legal profession in a way that demonstrates a passion for the law.
Chief Executive Partner, Pip England, said, “Rachel and Nicola are both leaders in their respective areas of law and paving the way for those that follow.”
“Rachel advises many of New Zealand’s leading NZX listed companies and is heavily involved in steering the continued development of New Zealand law, regulation and practices for corporate governance and capital markets.”
“Nicola is at the forefront of climate change and ESG risk management for business, currently advising a range of major New Zealand banks, fund managers, insurers and listed issuers on climate risk management, litigation and mandatory reporting.”
Rachel Dunne specialises in corporate and securities law and has acted on many of New Zealand's most significant initial public offerings and other equity capital markets transactions, as well as a range of complex public and private M&A transactions.
Rachel was recently appointed to the Takeovers Panel, the independent Crown entity which regulates New Zealand's takeovers market. She is also a member of the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal, the independent regulatory body that regulates conduct by NZX listed issuers and NZX market participants, and is a founding member of the NZX Corporate Governance Institute, established by NZX to assist in delivering corporate governance policy settings for NZX listed issuers.
Rachel also acts on a range of complex public and private M&A transactions. In the last year she acted on one of the largest transactions in the New Zealand market by deal size and complexity, advising the consortium of Northleaf Capital and InfraRed Capital Partners on the $1.7b acquisition of Vodafone New Zealand’s passive mobile network. The consortium acquired an 80 per cent equity interest in Aotearoa Towers Limited (trading as Forty South) from Vodafone NZ (with Infratil retaining a 20 per cent interest).
Nicola Swan specialises in litigation & dispute resolution and leads the firm's international law practice. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and of the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of Australia and New Zealand, and acts as counsel before international arbitral tribunals and in domestic courts.
Nicola is recognised for her expertise in climate change risk management and disclosure. She regularly speaks on this topic and has co-authored three major published legal opinions for the Aotearoa Circle, a public-private leadership network, on director, fund manager, and trustee responsibility to manage climate and nature related risk. Nicola helped develop New Zealand’s first Stewardship Code for fund managers, and is currently lead counsel for several Pacific States in proceedings before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to climate change.
Please join us in congratulating Nicola and Rachel.
