Commercial Law Conference 2026

Chair

Marika Eastwick-Field
Russell McVeagh, Auckland

Marika is a partner and dispute resolution specialist with 18 years' experience in corporate and commercial disputes. She acts for both plaintiffs and defendants in disputes arising out of mergers and acquisitions transactions, in complex contractual disputes, and in relation to issues involving company law and capital markets. Marika also provides contentious and non-contentious expertise in insurance, including advising on protections for directors and officers and acting on coverage disputes.
 

Presenters

Sarah Cahill
Bell Gully, Auckland 

Sarah is a civil litigator with experience in dispute resolution, insurance and class actions. She has an LLM from New York University, where she attended as a Hauser Global scholar. 

Anastasiya Gamble
Simpson Grierson, Auckland

Anastasiya is a corporate partner at Simpson Grierson, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures, and corporate governance.

David Ireland
Dentons, Wellington 

David is a partner in Denton’s Banking & Financial Markets team. He is ranked Band 1 by Chambers Asia Pacific Legal Directory, with over 30 years’ experience advising financial market participants on their regulatory obligations. 


 

Lance Jones
Anthony Harper, Auckland 

Lance is a corporate transactional lawyer with over 20 years’ experience working in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. He regularly advises clients on the Overseas Investment Act and has been closely involved with the various reforms of the Act under consecutive governments. 

Honor Lanham
Shortland Chambers, Auckland 

Honor is an experienced criminal and civil lawyer with particular expertise in serous fraud and regulatory cases. She also has a background in human rights law. 

Jessie Lapthorne
Duncan Cotterill, Auckland 

Jessie is a partner in the employment and health and safety team. She has more than 20 years’ experience as an employment law specialist, in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom. 


 

Tom Maasland
MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Auckland 

Tom is an internationally recognised, award-winning technology law specialist. He leads the firm’s TMT practice and advises on emerging technology areas including AI, cyber-security and blockchain-related issues.

Campbell McKenzie
Incident Response Solutions Limited, Auckland

Campbell is the founding director of Incident Response Solutions Ltd, specialising in forensic, cyber security and crisis management services. He is recognised as a forensic technology expert by the New Zealand District and High Courts and has also been appointed as an independent expert by the High Court.

Alicia Murray
Lowndes Jordan, Auckland 

Alicia is a commercial litigator with more than 20 years’ experience. She has a particular interest in competition and consumer law, insolvency, financial markets, and contractual disputes. 

Alex Nelder
Gilbert Walker, Auckland

Alex joined Gilbert Walker as special counsel in 2025. He specialises in civil and commercial disputes, including those involving contract, fraud and claims arising out of complex insolvency and restructuring situations.

Bridgette White
Bankside Chambers, Auckland 

Bridgette is an experienced commercial, regulatory and insolvency litigator. She has expertise in complex contractual and commercial disputes, regulatory investigations, enforcement activity and prosecution, fair trading and consumer protection claims as well as insolvency claims. 



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