“2021 will be the first time in 103 years that there won’t be a Cooney involved in the partnership”
Owen Cooney has retired as a partner at Cooney Lees Morgan, ending the Cooney line at the Tauranga firm’s partnership.
Cooney is a third-generation lawyer with the firm, having joined Cooney Lees Morgan in the 1980s. He focused on property transactions, business structures and rural business advisory, and went on to launch the firm’s property and development practice – something Cooney is very proud of.
“One of the great things that I will look back on and feel very satisfied about, is this team that has been created over time. The property and development team basically started with myself and Peter Rust. Now there’s around 20 of us,” he said in a statement on the firm’s website. “We've recruited and developed some great people and as I step off the ship, I feel pretty satisfied that there’s a great team here that’s going to carry on looking after my clients, and playing a significant role for the firm.”
Cooney made partner in 1987, and, at the time of his retirement, was the last member of his family to sit at the partnership table.
“I’m the last Cooney in a reasonably long line of partners. [2021] will be the first time in 103 years that there won’t be a Cooney involved in the partnership so that has been a pretty challenging concept for me to come to terms with,” Cooney said.
To facilitate his transition from Cooney Lees Morgan, the firm said that Cooney plans to establish a consultancy business that will contract back to the firm over the next year. Meanwhile, partner Cam Russell, who was the youngest-ever to join a Tauranga-headquartered firm’s partnership, succeeds Cooney as head of the property and development team.
“My fondest memory of Owen is when he decided to give a recent graduate with no legal experience a crack – that graduate being me some 10+ years ago! For me personally, Owen has always been the leader of our property and development team and I will miss having someone with as much experience and knowledge as him to bounce ideas around,” Russell said.
Partner Matt Tustin highlighted Cooney’s business-focused mindset.
“He is a strategic thinker and often his advice goes beyond ‘legal matters’ – he is very commercially minded. I will miss his constant search for business improvement, and his willingness to try things and invest in the future,” Tustin said. “On behalf of the current partnership and staff I would just like to thank him for his immense contribution to the firm over many decades. We will miss him but we look forward to working closely with him as part of his new endeavours.”
Cooney will continue to provide legal and business advice to Bay of Plenty Rugby as a director.
