The CEO role at Chapman Tripp will be discontinued following the departure of Alastair Carruthers, with the CEO responsibilities to be split between managing partners Andrew Poole and Mark Reese.
Andrew Poole will be responsible for the Auckland and Christchurch offices and Mark Reese responsible for the Wellington office. Poole will take ultimate responsibility for the firm's operations nationally and will devote 90% of his time to managing partner functions, while Reese will devote 10% of his time to managing partner functions and the remainder to client work. "Mark and I have exactly the same job description for our roles, albeit that we have different office accountabilities and percentage commitments to the role," Poole said.
The senior management team in its final form will feature a COO, a CIO and a director of marketing/BD, among other roles. Most of the roles, such as that of COO Tim Jones, are already in existence but the firm is expecting to announce a new appointment early next year.
Poole also took the opportunity to reflect on the progress the firm had made under the stewardship of Alastair Carruthers: "Alastair has had a defining role in the firm's growth and progress over the last 16 years, with over 13 of those as Chief Executive," he said. "That period has seen significant growth in partner numbers, clients and market share in Auckland, the continuing pre-eminent position of our Wellington office and the opening of a very successful Christchurch office." Poole noted that some of Carruthers' achievements included overseeing the creation of New Zealand's first online due diligence room (Dataspace); the adoption of a new brand and his commitment to the firm's participation in the debate of issues critical to New Zealand business.