Why Bell Gully

Why Bell Gully

This is your moment. Find out more about starting your career at Bell Gully.

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  • Welcome
  • Social responsibility
  • Culture
  • Our clients
  • Inclusion and diversity
  • Awards and recognition

​Bell Gully is New Zealand's most successful law firm.​

Being the best firm requires commitment, continuous improvement and conviction. Being the best requires that our people are connected and committed to the communities in which we work and live. We work continuously to create an office environment where our people not only feel challenged, supported and encouraged, but where they enjoy work and have fun at the same time.

We know that to achieve all this we need to continue to find the very best summer clerks and graduates. Our summer clerk programme is a key part of our drive to remain New Zealand's best.

From time to time we recruit for graduates, so keep an eye on our website, our Instagram​, our Facebook​ and our LinkedIn for law clerk opportunities.​

Bell Gully won Employer of Choice at the 2019 New Zealand Law Awards. In 2020, Bell Gully was voted among the top 30 New Zealand employers​ in a survey of recent graduates from GradNewZealand.​​​​​​​​

​Bell Gully is committed to using our skills to help the wider community – a key part of our aim to be the best law firm possible.

We take this role in the community seriously, and we offer our support in a number of ways. Many of our people individually volunteer or provide free legal advice to a range of charitable, community and sporting organisations.

Sustainability

Bell Gully's sustainability committee, known as 'Be Green', focuses on how we can use natural resources in a sustainable way, and minimise the environmental impact of our operations. Its objectives include:

  • Acknowledging Bell Gully's role in sustainability.

  • E​ducating staff about what they can do.

  • Developing relationships with clients with common aspirations.

  • Understanding​ the role of Bell Gully in a zero carbon New Zealand.​

To find out more about how we achieve these objectives as a firm visit our sustainability page.​

Community activities

Our community support comes in the form of donations, fundraising efforts and volunteering our time and skills to provide practical and appropriate help.

We have long-standing relationships with local and national charities (including Plunket, Auckland City Mission, KidsCan, Shine and the Breast Cancer Foundation), and we actively encourage and support our people to get involved in them, for a good cause. It is a spirit that is expressed at every level of the firm – from our summer clerks, lawyers and business support staff through to partnership.

Click here to read more about our pro bono and community programme.

Our culture defines us and remains a core part of the firm's identity. In order to remain the best law firm in New Zealand, we must constantly invest in our culture and create an environment where our people feel comfortable and can give their best.

Bell Gully's culture starts with our people. We host many events throughout the year that allow staff to get to know their colleagues and develop stronger connections. These range from team lunches, through to the mid-year ball, the annual family Christmas party and end of year Christmas function. Staff are invited to Friday night drinks each week, with food catered.

Health and wellbeing are core elements of Bell Gully's culture. As such, staff are welcome to attend various seminars throughout the year on everything from healthy cooking and responsible alcohol consumption to skincare. The firm's dedicated sports committee also runs a range of activities for staff to participate in. This includes lunchtime yoga, inter-firm sporting competitions and corporate running events.

Each floor has a "breakout room", where coffee machines, snacks and fresh fruit are provided.

We have a 'dress for your day' clothing policy which allows staff to manage their own professional dress code based on their schedule.

Our staff newsletter BellConnect is published fortnightly on Friday which highlights what's happening in and around the firm.​​​

No matter the size of a client, Bell Gully aims to build a strong relationship that enables deals and transactions to progress as smoothly as possible.

As a result of our successes over the years, we've built a formidable client list that continues to grow. It includes iconic New Zealand companies such as Air New Zealand, ANZ, ASB, Fletcher Building, Ngāi Tahu, Vodafone, Xero, public sector bodies, the New Zealand Treasury, the Ministry of Education and Vector Gas. We are very proud of our clients and the contribution we have been able to make to their success.

We're equally as proud working with emerging and innovative companies, helping them grow their businesses and New Zealand's economic future.

Our summer clerks get the opportunity to attend client meetings and become involved in transactions. This gives them a unique insight into what's involved in deals of all sizes and scopes.

Some examples of work we've done recently:

Vodafone New Zealand sale
Advised Vodafone Group Plc on its sale of Vodafone New Zealand to a consortium of Infratil and Brookfield Asset Management for NZ$3.4 billion, making it one of the largest New Zealand M&A transactions on record.

Trade Me takeover
Advised Apax Partners LLP on its NZ$2.56 billion takeover of Trade Me - the largest takeover undertaken to date in NZ via scheme of arrangement.​

Formica Group sale
Advised Fletcher Building on the successful sale of the Formica Group to Broadview (a member of HAL Trust group, which is listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange) for US$840 million (NZ$1.2 billion).

Our people are the foundation for our continuing success. We continuously work hard to ensure our workplace is inclusive, and trust that different experiences, perspectives, and values work together to achieve a better outcome.

Bell Gully are proud to have been certified with the Rainbow Tick and are signatories of the New Zealand Law Society's Gender Equality Charter.

To empower everyone to reach their full potential we embrace diversity. In line with our values, we strive to build an inclusive, productive culture that respects and appreciates the individual and promotes the value they bring to the team.

Read more about our inclusion and diversity values here.​​​

We like to recognise and celebrate the achievements of both the firm and our people.

Over many years, the world's most reputable and respected legal directories have ranked the firm and our people at the top of their expertise areas.

We also have an unparalleled track record of winning major legal awards from around the world. These recognise a combination of strong client relationships, the high calibre of our people, the scale and breath of our work and the innovation of the firm as a whole.

Here's a selection of the firm's achievements over the past 12 months:

  • In 2020, Bell Gully was voted among the top 30 New Zealand employers​ in a survey of recent graduates from GradNewZealand.​​​​​​

  • Bell Gully won six awards at the 2019 New Zealand Law Awards. The firm was awarded Employer of Choice, while chair Anna Buchly was named Managing Partner of the Year. We also advised on the transactions named as New Zealand Deal of the Year, M&A Deal of the Year, Capital Markets Deal of the Year and International Deal of the Year.

  • Bell Gully was named a 2019 winner at the NZ UN Women's Empowerment Principles White Camellia Awards. The firm received an award in recognition of our work to promote education, training and professional development opportunities for women. The awards celebrate organisations that are taking positive steps to ensure our New Zealand workplaces are fair, equal and offer the opportunity to succeed.​

Click here to learn more about our achievements.​​​