Experienced lawyer, senior leader and professional contractor.Wide range of legal services, governance, strategic change and leadership assignments undertaken across both private and public sectors, with a Crown entity focus in addition to private client work.Corporate clients including Auckland Council, HUD, ESR, Airways New Zealand, Reserve Bank, Tauranga City Council, WCC, DIA, MoT, MoJ, Qualcare (now Oceania) Group, Electricity Authority, Thames Water (UK).

Managed the provision of legal and related services at ESR during a period of organisational transformation, having initially conducted a strategic review of the legal services function for the executive and provided wide ranging transitional, commercial advisory, and governance support.

Athletics Wellington is the regional body of Athletics New Zealand charged with the promotion and development of athletics in the Wellington Region.http://athleticswellington.org.nz/

B+LNZ is a commercially focused farmer-owned company for improving the profitability and confidence of NZ’s sheep and beef industry. The NZMB is a Crown agent charged with facilitating, for New Zealand, the best possible ongoing returns available from the European and North American red meat quota markets and to manage the Board’s significant financial reserves. Reporting to the CEO as part of the Executive Team (SET), my role was to:• contribute to and influence the development and execution of B+LNZ's business strategy, and the aligning of organisational capability, resources and delivery to achieve B+LNZ’s strategic objectives• oversee and ensure the integrity of NZMB’s quota management (allocation, verification and certification), information and meat export registration systems • evaluate, advise and make recommendations to the NZMB on strategic quota management and related regulatory and trade policy issues (e.g. Brexit), and advocate for and influence key stakeholders, e.g. MPI, processors and exporters to give effect to the NZMB’s statutory objects • manage the provision of legal advice to the B+LNZ group, both domestically and offshore, including for commercial contracts, R&D initiatives, intellectual property, environmental policy and regulatory matters, international market development, market access and trade policy, and governance and company secretarial related matters• lead and oversee the design, development and implementation of Health, Safety and Wellness strategies and initiatives that reflect best practice and balance governance expectations and legislative requirements with the organisations’ vision for Health, Safety and Wellness, and chair the Safety & Wellness Committee • lead and develop for the respective Boards, through the joint Audit and Risk Committee, the legislative compliance and corporate assurance programmes, and chair the Corporate Assurance Team

A predecessor to the listed Oceania Healthcare, Qualcare was a leading property development and healthcare provider. Reporting to the CFO, my principal responsibilities and achievements were to: • oversee the legal team and ensure the provision of robust legal advice across the business, particularly on strategic property and commercial matters• manage all company secretarial matters and advocate for and ensure group compliance with applicable legislation, including drafting of prospectus and investment statements under Securities Act, and Occupation Licences, disclosure statements, and policies and procedures under Retirement Villages Act (RVA)• manage all Occupation Licences on issue and all village unit settlements, payouts, and valuations, and negotiate the resolution of any disputes • manage the group’s corporate assurance and risk management programmes• supervise the database of Occupation Agreements and associated legal and financial data and manage the provision of all reports required by the statutory supervisor• assist in the negotiation, preparation, and review of key contracts across the business, including contracts with DHBs, MOH, and key suppliers• lead the development of protocols and guidelines relating to the legal aspects of village sales and village management in order to create more efficient processes• draft and negotiate acquisition documentation and liaise with external legal counsel• develop legal team capability and resources, and raise legal team profile and responsiveness to business needs, so as to better contribute to business objectives• manage and effect a seamless transition to compliance with the new RVA regulatory regime including registration of villages and Code of Practice requirements• slash external legal spend by bringing all village unit transactions in-house

Prime Resources is a property development group with its major ongoing project being the rehabilitation and high end development of 1800 ha of former New Zealand Forest Products (NZFP) land. I was responsible for the operational management of the group’s portfolio and the provision and coordination of legal advice and other consultancies, commercial negotiations and strategic stakeholder relationships. A key achievement was leading and managing the suite of acquisitions, through key stakeholder relationships and attending to a myriad of matters including new easements, legacy issues, boundary relocations, forestry rights and harvesting agreements.

Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC is an established UK finance house listed on the London Stock Exchange. Reporting to the Group Counsel as part of the executive team, my role was to:• provide commercial legal advice to the Group’s trading divisions and subsidiaries to minimise their exposure to legal risk in the course of their ordinary asset finance and other finance trading activities, particularly in the areas of hire purchase and leasing, security documentation, commercial contracts, insurance, and data protection• deputise for Group Counsel and Company Secretary and assist with corporate governance and corporate assurance programme oversight • provide speedy, commercial legal advice (often ad hoc) to all areas of the Group• undertake legal research and advise relevant divisions/subsidiaries of developments in the law to minimise legal risk and ensure continued legal compliance • instruct and liaise with external counsel on various contentious matters

Lloyd’s is the pre-eminent international market for insurance risks of almost every type. I provided commercial legal advice by way of individual assignments and as part of project teams, applying negotiation and stakeholder management skills in particular. The matters I dealt with arose from the activities of the Society of Lloyd's, the corporation and its subsidiaries, with a commercial contract and IT focus including project work critical to the establishment of the online portal for the Lloyd’s market, and included: • the timely and robust review, drafting and negotiation of the suite of international IT and related contracts critical to the ‘Lloyd’s.com’ project• drafting, reviewing, advising and negotiating on a range of other contracts (generally IT - many bespoke - including software licensing, web site/hosting, outsourcing, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, also property and utilities contracts)• legislative compliance and risk management• advising on e-commerce and intellectual property (trademarks, copyright) aspects• drafting bespoke terms and conditions for internal business templates• providing legal advice on internal restructuring and disposal of businesses