Finance

Alice has been a Partner of Govett Quilliam since 2014 and has expertise in property, corporate and commercial law. Alice has used her expertise to provide specialist in-house support to several Oil & Gas Corporates.

Now she co-leads the Corporate and Commercial Team. Alice, together with her team, works hard to provide each client with a bespoke legal experience.

Expertise

Paul has been a partner of Govett Quilliam since 1989 and has specific expertise in commercial law and in the oil and gas sector.

Expertise

• Being lead legal provider in joint venture and shared services agreements with oil and gas companies for support vessels and helicopter services
• Providing day to day legal support for an oil and gas exploration and production company operating a large offshore project in the Taranaki basin, on-shore projects in Western Australia and drilling explorations in Indonesia
• Establishing and developing a statutory compliance regime with a large insurance company for use by organisations within the tertiary education and health sectors and several ports throughout New Zealand
• Presenting at national conferences in respect of topics such as risk management, the changing face of rural law, the National Horticulture Sector on succession planning, the health sector on risks and responsibilities of rest home providers and the New Zealand Law Society Resource Management intensive on the oil and gas legislative interface.

Richard  has been a Partner at GQ since June 2023. He leads the GQ Stratford Team and specialises in property law, trusts and wills work, as well as commercial law. 

Expertise

Richard qualified into a London corporate law firm in 2005. In 2008 Richard emigrated to New Zealand and practised in Auckland for three years before moving to Taranaki in 2010 where he has been in practise for the last 12 years. Richard has a wealth of experience in Property, Commercial and Trusts law.

Priyaanka started at Govett Quilliam as an intern in June 2017 and joined the term permanently in January 2018. Priyaanka worked within the Commercial Team then headed by Paul Anderson before joining the Property Team headed by Alice Tocher and Geoff Shearer in February 2019.

Expertise

In the area of Property Law, Priyaanka has experience in contractual review, conveyancing, leasing, residential build contracts, and property refinancing, and can provide general advice in all areas of Property Law. Priyaanka is developing an understanding of covenants, easements and other associated property documentation relevant for the protection of client’s rights and obligations.

In the Commercial Law area, Priyaanka has experience in reviewing contractual terms of commercial agreements and leases, and has worked on a variety of small to medium business sales and purchases. Her areas of work in this area include contractual review, business sales and purchases, commercial property sales and purchases, commercial refinancing and commercial leasing.

Rochelle is an Associate in the Corporate and Commercial Team. Rochelle joined Govett Quilliam after five years at a law firm in Wellington where she worked as a law clerk and lawyer.

Expertise

Rochelle's work focuses on commercial structures and relationships, company law, corporate advisory, and governance advice. She undertakes commercial property transactions, drafting and reviewing commercial agreements, selling and purchasing businesses, shareholder disputes, and other matters. Rochelle’s broad experience in corporate and commercial law, employment law, privacy, and health and safety gives her a unique overview from which to provide thorough and pragmatic advice.

Rochelle also has several years’ experience specialising in employment law, health and safety, human rights, and privacy. She has advised small and large organisations, as well as individuals, on restructures and change management processes, disciplinary investigations, performance management, and has conducted workplace investigations. She has appeared in the Employment Relations Authority and taken complaints to the Human Rights Commission. Rochelle was previously a member of the Employment Law Committee of the Wellington Law Society.

Suzanne joined Govett Quilliam in April 2006 as a Legal Secretary and was promoted to Legal Executive in February 2014. Suzanne has over fifteen years' experience working in Taranaki law firms. She gained her Legal Executive Certificate in 2011. Suzanne supports Alice Tocher and Paul Franklin in conveyancing and commercial matters.

Expertise

Suzanne specialises in conveyancing and commercial work, and in particular the area of residential conveyancing and refinancing matters.

Suzanne's experience includes:

• Residential sale and purchases;
• Rural sale and purchases;
• Refinancing;
• Change of trustees;
• Small subdivisions.

Karen has been a valued member of GQ since 1976. She is a Senior Legal Executive and is part of our Private Client Team. Prior to joining this team Karen worked closely with Ross Fanthorpe in our Innovators Team. She is an Associate Member of the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives.

Her areas of expertise include conveyancing of commercial, private and farming properties, business transactions, trusts, Wills and finance matters.

Expertise