Sophie East

^{Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific Awards 2024 'New Zealand Lawyer of the Year'.}

^{Chambers Asia Pacific 2025}^{Litigation and disputes, 'Leading lawyer'.}

^{The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2025 Litigation and disputes, 'Leading lawyer'.}

^{Benchmark Asia Pacific's 2020, 2021 and 2024 Top 100 Women in Litigation.}

^{Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2024 'Litigation star'.}

^{Women in Business Law Awards APAC 2023 '}Commercial Arbitration Lawyer of the Year'.

^{NZ Lawyer 2024 '}^{Most influential lawyer' shortlist.}

^{Clients describe Sophie as "calm and directive," providing "clear and pragmatic advice," and having "the ability to look outside the square when problem solving."}

Phenylephrine class action

Acting for three Johnson & Johnson defendants in a proposed class action brought on behalf of all consumers of various brands of cold and flu medication sold in New Zealand in the last twenty years. The claims concern the effectiveness of these phenylephrine-based medications in relieving nasal congestion.

Bank disclosure class action

Acting for ANZ bank in defence of a class action brought by customers alleging errors in disclosing loan details.

INEOS and New Zealand Rugby

Acting for INEOS Industries Holdings in defending a claim by New Zealand Rugby over a sponsorship agreement, including INEOS's sponsorship of the New Zealand national rugby team (the All Blacks).

Quanex Building Products

Acting for Quanex, a New York Stock exchange listed manufacturer of building products, in defending a product liability claim brought by a manufacturer of window systems in New Zealand.

Superannuation fund dispute

Acting for an international fund custodian in a contractual dispute with one of New Zealand's largest superannuation fund managers.

ANZ Bank – Wellington developer claims

Acting in an approximately NZ$50m breach of warranty claim against Lendlease, the vendor of five retirement villages in Auckland, arising from significant weathertightness issues at three of the villages.

Lambie Trust dispute

Acting for the beneficiary of a substantial Trust in claims against the Trustee, with the initial stages of this matter going all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Asia Pacific Village Group (APVG) and Metlifecare proceedings

Acted for APVG in a dispute over APVG's termination of a NZ$1.5bn transaction to buy the Metlifecare retirement village business as a result of the emergence and spread of Covid-19. This was one of the first pieces of litigation in New Zealand resulting from Covid-19.