Lane Neave has appointed a new Litigation Partner and three other senior practitioners to further strengthen the firm’s expertise across the legal spectrum.
Partner Lynne Van has joined the national Dispute Resolution and Litigation Law team at our Auckland office, in addition to three Special Counsels across the country. Nicola Cuervo (employment law) and Amelia Simpson (commercial property law) have joined the firm in Christchurch, while family law specialist Tanya Lavan is based in Lane Neave’s growing Wellington office.
Managing Partner Andrew Shaw says the appointments reflect Lane Neave’s ongoing commitment to legal excellence.
“In addition, the appointment of Tanya in Wellington highlights a focus on growing our presence in this region, with a current headcount of 10 and more growth planned in 2026.”
The appointments of Lynne, Nicola, Amelia and Tanya mean that most of Lane Neave’s senior lawyers are now women.
Lynne Van – Partner, Auckland
Lynne is a commercial litigator with particular expertise in litigation related to banking, insolvency and restructuring, and property.
She advises on a wide range of commercial matters, including securities enforcement, governance issues, recoveries, shareholder disputes, body corporate matters and insurance.
Lynne has interest and experience in product liability issues in the automotive sector, including matters related to the Consumer Guarantees Act and Fair Trading Act.
Nicola Cuervo – Special Counsel, Christchurch
With significant private and in-house experience, Nicola specialises in employment, health law, privacy law, and dispute resolution.
As an employment lawyer, she’s an expert in disciplinary processes and employment investigations, along with restructuring, personal grievances and alternative dispute resolution.
When it comes to health law, Nicola specialises in supporting health providers with legalities relating to consent of treatment, competency issues, managing complaints and adverse events, and Coronial Inquiries.
Tanya Lavan – Special Counsel, Wellington
Tanya has specialised in family law since 2009, with her practice focusing on both parenting and property matters – and the spectrum of issues in between.
This includes spend-time arrangements, relocations, family violence, property settlements, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial property contract agreements, intergenerational wealth transfer and settlements.
Tanya has extensive experience in all avenues of dispute resolution, including lawyer-to-lawyer negotiation, mediation, roundtable conferences, litigation and collaborative law.
Amelia Simpson, Special Counsel – Christchurch
With extensive experience in commercial and property law, Amelia’s specialist expertise is in complex property transactions, particularly large subdivisions – from beginning to end. She undertakes a wide range of land and building transactions for both commercial and private clients.
She is also experienced in all aspects of general commercial law, including structuring business entities, business sales and purchases, financing (acting for both lenders and borrowers), manufacturing and distribution agreements, and business and trade contracts.
