Campbell explains the benefits of being focused on a certain practice area
When Shane Campbell launched litigation boutique Campbell and Associates last year, he expected immediate growth. Thus, when Thomas Westaway came on board as a partner last month Campbell & Associates gave way to the new disputes specialist firm Campbell Westaway – the sole dedicated specialist disputes practice of its kind in the South Island region.
In this interview, Campbell explains the rebranding process, his vision for the firm, and not growing for growth’s sake.
What drove the decision to rebrand, and why did you choose to rebrand the way you did?
When the firm was first launched in May 2025, I anticipated there would be some immediate growth. So, bringing new people on board was always on the cards. When I started discussing [Thomas Westaway] coming on board, it was always on the basis that he would become a named partner, and the idea was always Campbell Westaway.
In terms of the website and branding, we worked closely with a marketing firm, Antony & Mates. We wanted something bold that very clearly conveyed what we do – disputes and only disputes. We feel like we have achieved that.
You’ve said that you may be the first disputes-only practice focusing on plaintiff work in the South Island region – why did you decide to concentrate on this area of law in this region?
I talked to several senior barristers and silks about opportunities in the market. What always struck me (and it turns out, Thomas) is that Christchurch is New Zealand’s second largest city but lacked a dedicated disputes practice. These kinds of firms have existed in the US and UK for decades, and there are several very good litigation-only firms in Auckland and at least one in Wellington. Based on population and economy size, it did not make any sense.
The benefits of a disputes only firm is that we can keep overheads much lower than a full-service firm, we very rarely have legal conflicts, and never have commercial conflicts because the only work we are capable of doing is litigation – we cannot take clients even if we wanted to – and we do not want to take clients or do anything beyond handling a dispute and moving on.
In the short time you’ve been operating, what do you consider to be the firm’s biggest accomplishment to date?
We have achieved quite a lot. In the 10 months since launching, we have added a partner and recruited 6 staff. We are now a team of 8 lawyers, which I believe enables us to handle litigation of any size, in any court in the country. We have had great support from other lawyers and professionals. But our biggest accomplishment is probably building an extremely high performing team, who are all great lawyers, and who all get along.
What has been the biggest challenge?
Administration is probably the biggest challenge. Not in the sense of doing it, but in the sense of not realising what administration is actually required when starting a law firm. But over the past year all of that has gotten a lot better.
What is your vision for the firm, and how are you working to achieve that?
We want to be known as the best litigation firm in the South Island and are the go-to for hard cases, and the people other lawyers want to refer their clients to. We are achieving that by recruiting talented lawyers and getting our name into the market about who we are and exactly what we do. Ultimately, the attraction of lawyers, accountants and other professionals in referring work to us is that we are highly specialised, do one thing very well, and there is no concern about commercial conflicts.
Can you tell us about your growth strategy?
Not to grow for growth’s sake. Our imperatives are being able to service clients to a very high standard. We will grow if and to the extent that we can continue to meet that imperative. We will also only grow within the disputes sphere, and there are obvious abilities to expand in that space, some of which we are thinking about now.
Where do you see the firm in the next five years?
Hopefully bigger, better, high-performing and known as the go-to litigation firm. We want to continue taking on great people to enable us to achieve that and continue working with great clients.
