Partner

Melissa Russell

Profile
Melissa is a Partner in our Litigation Group.

Melissa is a Partner with over 20 years of experience working in global insurance law teams in New Zealand, London, Hong Kong and Singapore.  She specialises in construction, property damage, and product liability matters.  Melissa has also worked for a global insurer as its Asia Pacific wordings counsel. 

Melissa represents insurers and their insureds in the investigation and defence of a variety of large loss matters, which include but are not limited to; construction, public and product liability, property, general liability claims.

Melissa also has extensive experience of advising on insurance and reinsurance coverage issues across the aforementioned lines of business. She also assists insurers with the drafting of policy wordings (all lines), endorsements, and advises on regulatory matters in New Zealand.

The claims she works on are of a high value and technically complex. They involve a range of experts from different disciplines on both liability and quantum.

Melissa also has experience of a range of dispute-resolution techniques, including numerous mediations and adjudications as well as having trial experience in the High Court of New Zealand.

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Experience

Examples of work completed by Melissa include:

  • Successfully recovered a large loss against a fruit packing house for a product liability loss in a summary judgment application.
  • Numerous successful construction adjudications to defend claims for extension of time, application of liquidated damages and cost escalation.
  • Defence of a fire engineer for construction works at a multistorey development in the Auckland CBD.
  • Defence of a local authority against losses arising from rebuild of residential housing after Christchurch earthquake.
  • Drafting a bespoke material damage policy for a power facility located in Hong Kong.
Recommendations
Media
Publications

Insights & Opinion / Melissa Russell

photo  dbe
When Sweet Turns Sour: The Costly Consequences of Contamination
The New Zealand Sugar Company (NZSC), trading as Chelsea Sugar, recently found itself in hot water after being fined nearly $149,500 by the District Court due to a prosecution brought by the Ministry ...
19.02.2025 Posted in Insurance & Trade and Transport
Contracts of Insurance Act – what’s in store for you?
For our previous articles concerning the Bill, please click here and here. The Contracts of Insurance Act passed into law on 15 November 2024.  Although the Act will come into force over a period of ...
20.11.2024 Posted in Insurance
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