The DLA Piper signage may have gone up in Australia, but the Phillips Fox name lives on in New Zealand. The former NZ office of DLA Phillips Fox, which cut ties with its Australian counterparts last year, has announced the appointment of six new partners. The firm now has a total of 26 partners, an increase of 26% over the previous total. The new partners are all internal promotions. A firm spokesperson said that the firm preferred not to disclose whether the partners were equity or salaried partners.  

The firm is positioning itself as “an independent New Zealand law firm closely allied to DLA Piper”. New Zealand chairman Martin Wiseman said that the firm’s operations in Auckland and Wellington would remain unchanged. “For now there is no change to our name or visual identity,” he added.

The new partners are Peter Fuller (resource management), Matthew Hay (corporate), Veronica Cress (insurance/ litigation), Reuben Woods (corporate), Neil Beadle (insurance/ maritime) and Crossley Gates (insurance).

The firm also has a new domain at www.dlapf.com.