Wellington’s Crown Solicitors, Luke Cunningham & Clere, are to open an Auckland office in April 2022 in a significant move for the long-established firm.
The firm is currently looking for lawyers to staff the ‘inaugural Auckland team’ and is seeking to expand its role as a specialist public law, regulatory litigation practice.
Luke Cunningam, founded in Wellington in 1929 and has held the Crown warrant since 1936 when William Cunningham was appointed Crown Solicitor.
The Auckland move may reflect the opening of Auckland Crown Solicitors’ Meredith Connell’s Wellington operation as the firms seek to expand upon their government and public law credentials and experience. Losing clients to the Queen City would be stymied by the move, as well as permitting continued growth in the firm, which has just six partners, plus another 30 lawyers in the contingent, providing a higher partner-to-fee earner ratio.
