Bell Gully
Bell Gully is a New Zealand commercial law firm founded in 1840, employing over 200 lawyers across Auckland and Wellington. It serves large corporates, listed companies, PE funds, government, and international investors with full-service legal advice across M&A, competition, employment, and technology.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1840
- HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Bell Gully does
Bell Gully is a leading New Zealand commercial law firm established in 1840, making it one of the country's oldest. The firm is headquartered in Auckland (Level 14 Deloitte Centre, 1 Queen Street) with a second office in Wellington (Level 4 Bell Gully Building, 40 Lady Elizabeth Lane), and employs over 200 lawyers supported by a wider team of 251–500 staff. It is privately held as a partnership under Managing Partner Andrew Petersen and Chair Torrin Crowther, with no external investors or parent company.
The firm provides full-service legal advice across corporate transactions (M&A, capital markets, private equity, joint ventures), competition and antitrust, banking and finance, construction and infrastructure, digital and technology, employment, energy and renewables, environment and planning, financial services, insurance, intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, overseas investment, privacy and cyber security, real estate, restructuring and insolvency, and tax. The firm's primary technology deployment is Harvey AI, a specialist legal Generative AI platform rolled out firm-wide from July 2025 — making Bell Gully the first large New Zealand law firm to adopt it. Harvey supports legal research, document collaboration on large-scale projects, secure document storage, and knowledge retrieval from public and proprietary legal, tax, and business databases.
Bell Gully's client base is concentrated in large enterprises, listed companies (NZX and ASX), private equity and infrastructure funds, government agencies, and international investors entering New Zealand. Named clients include ASB, IAG, Suncorp, Fidelity Life, Genesis Energy, IBM, AT&T, Shopify, Woolworths, Asahi, Lactalis, bp Oil, NZME, and the Department of Corrections. The firm earns revenue through professional services fees on a quote-based, matter-by-matter basis, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Bell Gully holds Band 1/Tier 1 rankings across Chambers Asia Pacific, The Legal 500, and IFLR 1000 in 2026 across corporate, M&A, employment, TMT, data protection, and competition practices, and was named New Zealand's top law firm at the 2025 Lexology Index Awards.
Bell Gully firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bell Gully
- Legal name
- Bell Gully
- Website
- https://bellgully.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1840
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Bell Gully is a New Zealand commercial law firm founded in 1840, employing over 200 lawyers across Auckland and Wellington. It serves large corporates, listed companies, PE funds, government, and international investors with full-service legal advice across M&A, competition, employment, and technology.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bell Gully industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Legal Services
- NAICS
- Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)
- SIC
- Services-Legal Services (8111)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) & Securities Law (BPAHAAAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Insolvency Law (BPAHAAAH)
Keywords
Where Bell Gully is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Auckland
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices2 records
Markets served
Bell Gully business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Legal Services: Professional legal services including corporate transactions (M&A, capital markets), advisory services, dispute resolution, and specialized legal advice across multiple practice areas.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Bell Gully product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bell Gully is a leading New Zealand commercial law firm that provides full-service legal advice across practice areas including banking and finance, corporate/M&A, competition and antitrust, construction, digital and technology, employment, tax, infrastructure, insurance, litigation, real estate, restructuring, and public sector matters. The firm serves listed companies, large corporates, private equity firms, government agencies, and international investors, and has deployed Harvey AI as a legal generative AI platform firm-wide.
Product overview
Bell Gully is a leading New Zealand law firm established in 1840, providing comprehensive legal services across multiple practice areas. The firm's primary technology offering is Harvey AI, a specialist legal Generative AI platform deployed firm-wide to support over 200 lawyers. Harvey AI facilitates legal research, document collaboration, and knowledge retrieval from legal, tax, and business databases. Beyond AI capabilities, the firm offers legal services across Banking and Finance, Corporate/M&A, Competition/Antitrust, Construction, Digital and Technology, Employment, Energy and Renewables, Environment and Planning, Financial Services, Health, Infrastructure, Insurance, Intellectual Property, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Overseas Investment, Privacy and Cyber Security, Real Estate, Restructuring and Insolvency, Tax, and other specialized areas.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Corporate and M&A Legal Services Legal advisory on mergers and acquisitions, public takeovers, private equity transactions, capital markets, joint ventures, and corporate governance for listed companies, corporates, and financial investors in New Zealand.
- Banking and Finance Legal Services Legal services for banks, financial institutions, and borrowers on financing transactions, lending arrangements, and financial services regulation in New Zealand.
- Competition and Antitrust Legal Services Legal advice on competition law, antitrust matters, cross-border mergers and acquisitions clearances, and cartel leniency issues for clients across multiple jurisdictions.
- Employment Law Legal Services Specialist employment and workplace health and safety advice covering advisory, litigation, and compliance matters for large employers across multiple industries.
- Digital, Technology and Privacy Legal Services Legal advice on digital, technology, IP, data, privacy, cyber security, and e-commerce matters for technology, media, telecommunications, and platform businesses.
- Construction, Infrastructure and Real Estate Legal Services Legal advice on construction, project development, infrastructure, and real estate transactions for major projects in New Zealand.
- Tax Legal Services Specialist tax advice covering corporate tax, M&A tax, financing structures, employee share schemes, securitisation, indirect taxes, GST, customs and excise, and tax disputes.
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution Court proceedings, dispute resolution, and advocacy in commercial, public, employment, tort, and data protection litigation.
- Harvey AI Legal Generative AI Platform (Internal Deployment) Specialist legal Generative AI platform deployed firm-wide to facilitate collaboration on large-scale projects, assist legal research using public and proprietary databases of legal, tax, and business knowledge, and offer AI-assisted features to support complex legal tasks. Deployed internally to over 200 Bell Gully lawyers.
Companies that use Bell Gully
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Bell Gully technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature1 record
Bell Gully partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Harvey AIcoreBell Gully signed an agreement to roll out Harvey's specialist legal Generative AI platform to their lawyers firm-wide. Harvey facilitates collaboration on large-scale projects with secure document storage, assists legal research by drawing on public and proprietary databases, and offers AI-assisted features for complex legal tasks. Bell Gully is the first large New Zealand law firm to launch Harvey, available to their team of over 200 lawyers.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Bell Gully competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Buddle Findlay: Buddle Findlay is a major New Zealand full-service commercial law firm with offices in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. It is a primary competitor to Bell Gully in corporate, M&A, energy, infrastructure, and public sector work, and regularly features in the same Chambers and Legal 500 top-tier rankings.
- Chapman Tripp: Chapman Tripp is one of Bell Gully's closest competitors and one of New Zealand's largest full-service commercial law firms, headquartered in Auckland and Wellington. It competes directly with Bell Gully for top-tier corporate, M&A, banking, and dispute resolution mandates, and is regularly ranked alongside Bell Gully in Chambers and Legal 500.
- Simpson Grierson: Simpson Grierson is a leading New Zealand full-service law firm headquartered in Auckland with a Wellington office. It competes with Bell Gully across corporate, commercial, employment, and government work, and is one of the country's established 'big' law firms.
- Anderson Lloyd: Anderson Lloyd is a prominent New Zealand law firm with offices in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill, Queenstown, and Wellington. It is a credible competitor in corporate, commercial, and public sector work, though slightly smaller and more regionally anchored than Bell Gully.
- Russell McVeagh: Russell McVeagh is a leading New Zealand full-service commercial law firm with offices in Auckland and Wellington. It competes head-to-head with Bell Gully for major corporate transactions, M&A, capital markets, and dispute resolution work, and is a key counterpart in NZ's elite legal market.
Broad incumbents
- DLA Piper: DLA Piper is a global full-service law firm with a New Zealand presence. It competes with Bell Gully on large international M&A, technology, and corporate transactions involving NZ-domiciled clients, and offers a global platform that single-jurisdiction firms cannot match.
- King & Wood Mallesons: King & Wood Mallesons is a global elite law firm with a strong Asia-Pacific and Australian practice. It competes with Bell Gully for large cross-border M&A and capital markets deals involving New Zealand and Australian counterparties, and brings materially larger scale and cross-border reach.
- Herbert Smith Freehills: Herbert Smith Freehills is a global elite law firm with offices across Asia-Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas. It competes for large cross-border M&A, energy, and infrastructure matters involving New Zealand (and previously employed Bell Gully partner Chris Goddard in London and Tokyo), making it a direct competitor on inbound/outbound NZ mandates.
- Allens: Allens is a leading Australian commercial law firm with deep Asia-Pacific reach. It is a frequent counterparty to Bell Gully on trans-Tasman M&A, energy, and infrastructure deals, and brings broader geographic coverage that competes with Bell Gully on cross-border mandates.
- Linklaters: Linklaters is a global elite law firm with a strong Asia-Pacific practice. Bell Gully partner Gabrielle Menzies previously worked at Linklaters in London, and the firm competes with Bell Gully for large cross-border M&A, capital markets, and corporate finance mandates involving New Zealand clients and counterparties.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Bell Gully social profiles
Digital presenceBell Gully financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bell Gully leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Bell Gully funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bell Gully M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bell Gully
What does Bell Gully do?
Bell Gully is a leading New Zealand commercial law firm that provides full-service legal advice across practice areas including banking and finance, corporate/M&A, competition and antitrust, construction, digital and technology, employment, tax, infrastructure, insurance, litigation, real estate, restructuring, and public sector matters. The firm serves listed companies, large corporates, private equity firms, government agencies, and international investors, and has deployed Harvey AI as a legal generative AI platform firm-wide.
Is Bell Gully a public or private company?
Bell Gully is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Bell Gully founded?
Bell Gully was founded in 1840. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Bell Gully based?
Bell Gully is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Bell Gully make money?
One revenue line is on record: legal Services.
Who are Bell Gully's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Buddle Findlay, Chapman Tripp, Simpson Grierson, Anderson Lloyd and Russell McVeagh. Broad incumbents are DLA Piper, King & Wood Mallesons, Herbert Smith Freehills, Allens and Linklaters.
Does Bell Gully have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bell Gully.
What industry is Bell Gully in?
Bell Gully's product category is Legal Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAAAI, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) & Securities Law, with a secondary code of BPAHAAAH, Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Insolvency Law. Its NAICS code is 541110 and its SIC code is 8111.