Two Chapman Tripp lawyers have been promoted to Special Counsel, effective 1 December 2019.

Vivian Cheng joined Chapman Tripp in 2012. She has 17 years’ experience advising clients on all aspects of taxation law, with particular expertise in business structures and reorganisations, mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions and cross-border taxation.

Vivian Cheng

Vivian regularly speaks and was past chair at the annual NZLS Tax Conference, is a regular contributor to the New Zealand Law Journal and is ranked by Chambers Asia Pacific as an Associate to Watch. Vivian’s expertise extends to advising on FATCA and the automatic exchange of financial account information.

Nicholas Wood provides advice on dealing with commercial disputes, civil litigation and arbitration, as well as on managing the risk of disputes before they arise.

Nicholas Wood

In recent years, Nicholas has been responsible for the management of a large Canterbury earthquake-based insurance litigation portfolio. He successfully defended an insurer in two High Court trials brought by dissatisfied homeowners.

Nicholas authored the legal textbook Sale of Goods in New Zealand, which won the JF Northey Memorial Award for 2018. He has also co-authored McGechan on Procedure for many years.