Are you a senior commercial or civil litigator who has been waiting for the right opportunity to initiate your move to Queenstown? If so, here it is.

Established more than 10 years ago, Parker Cowan is a specialist litigation firm, acting for clients throughout New Zealand and around the world, based in Frankton, Queenstown.

There is no common path to Parker Cowan. The team of 7 lawyers have come to the firm at different stages in their careers and from diverse destinations and legal roles. What is common to everyone, is people have deliberately chosen to move to the Queenstown-Lakes district, to be active in the outdoors – skiing/boarding, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, golfing, boating, swimming – to indulge in the great food and wine the region is known for, or just to “be” in this beautiful part of Aotearoa. Not having to commute in heavy traffic, or work the longer hours typical in bigger cities, you really will have more time to enjoy an active or relaxing lifestyle with your family and friends. Thankfully, it is not at the expense of doing varied and stimulating work to the highest standards within a highly respected firm.

Parker Cowan specialises in insurance based litigation, acting for insurers and their insureds, with particular emphasis on professional indemnity cases, and frequently on statutory and complex general liability matters. The professionals for whom the team are instructed to act, are varied, and extend from lawyers, accountants, valuers and engineers to health professionals and business owners. They also act for a wide range of insureds who find themselves before their respective disciplinary bodies and who are the subject of investigation and or prosecution by government departments.

As a professional yourself, you’ll appreciate that this is important legal work given the significant impacts on people’s careers and lives. The litigation the firm is involved in leads to appearances in all levels of Courts and specialist Tribunals around New Zealand, including Royal Commissions when they arise. In addition to Court appearances, live and remote, there will be ample opportunity for achieving dispute resolution by mediation and negotiation.

Parker Cowan has two opportunities for senior litigators to join the team. Though it would be ideal, it is not essential to have had some insurance litigation experience. Quality general commercial /civil litigation experience, importantly including appearances in mediations and Court, is essential. You will be used to working in a busy practice, with real responsibility, consulting and collaborating with partners and other lawyers as needed. You will have strong interpersonal and communication skills to build and maintain client relationships, an analytical and commercial solutions orientation, honed oral and written advocacy skills and a keenness to “be on your feet” as often as possible. Irrespective of your years of experience, you’ll welcome coaching from the firm’s partners Maree Cowan and Michael Parker. You’ll also enjoy the collegiality and support of a senior weighted team with a breadth and depth of experience, along with very capable intermediate level expertise. Your exact work mix will be tailored to your level of experience and any areas of interest and speciality you may bring. We are looking for enthusiasm and a willingness to apply yourself to the opportunities on offer. Parker Cowan has strong and close leadership from Maree and Michael and an egalitarian team who support one another and genuinely enjoy working together.

We welcome discussing your career aspirations. There is a clear opportunity for someone with the right attitude and skills to evolve into a leadership role. However if this is not your aim, or you are not decided yet, we can easily work with that too.

If this is the opportunity you have been waiting for, we welcome hearing from you at the earliest opportunity, for an initial exploratory conversation. If there is alignment between us, we would expect to have further open conversations including such things as current and imminent workflows (plentiful), any interest in bringing or developing new business, flexibility around work location and hours, remuneration (salary and bonus), fee and time budgets etc. We understand that moving at a senior level, especially relocating and particularly if partners and family are involved, can take some time and we are more than willing to accommodate that.

We do require lawyers to be eligible to work in New Zealand, have a full driver’s licence, and to have at least 5 years’ quality litigation experience. Please enquire by contacting me, Victoria Fletcher, 021 300 982 or apply via Seek.