Elisabeth is a Partner in Simpson Grierson's Commercial Department.  She heads up the Energy, Networks and Utilities Industry Group and is a lead partner in our Competition Law Group. 

Elisabeth's practice frequently involves negotiating and drafting complex contractual arrangements.  This encompasses joint ventures (including multi-party industry joint ventures involving complex value adjustments), outsourcing, supply, distribution and network agreements.  Her reputation is for a strongly analytical approach with a focus on strategic issues, commercial solutions and plain-English drafting.

She is a principal adviser to major participants in each of the petroleum exploration, gas, electricity and downstream oil sectors as well as providing commercial advice to participants in other infrastructure sectors, such as telecommunications, water, wastewater and solid waste disposal.

With a strong competition and regulatory focus to her practice, Elisabeth has a detailed understanding of the regulatory frameworks relevant to the energy and telecommunication sectors and her work has included strategic advice on, and involvement in, design and development of industry specific regulatory frameworks (electricity and gas in particular).  She has a wealth of experience assisting clients responding to processes initiated by industry regulators as well as advising on regulatory and competition law compliance, including, where necessary, seeking approvals and authorisations.

• Electricity industry regulation (including the Commerce Commission administered targeted price control regime, Electricity Industry Reform Act and Electricity Commission, as well as previous industry self-regulatory regimes) advising the national grid owner/operator and a number of distribution lines companies (since 1995 and ongoing)
• BP Oil New Zealand principal legal adviser on all commercial and regulatory matters (since 1999 and ongoing)
• BOC acquisition of Shell's LPG assets (2007)
• Cargill International acquisition of interest in Spring Creek Coal Mine
• Advising one of the Maui joint venture partners on renegotiation of the Maui gas contract and implementation of open access on the Maui pipeline (2004-2005)
• Advising one of the Pohokura joint venture partners on field development and associated contractual arrangements, including gas supply arrangements (2004-2005)
• Preussag GmbH $254 million sale of New Zealand assets to OMV (2003)
• Unison Networks' $196 million acquisition of electricity distribution networks from United Networks (2002)
• New Zealand aspects of BP Amoco's US$4.7 billion global acquisition of Burmah Castrol (2000)
• Origin Energy $1.7 billion buyout of Edison Mission Energy’s 51% stake in Contact Energy (2004) and aspects of the proposed scheme of arrangement with Contact Energy
• Crown IPO and trade sale (to US based Edison Mission Energy) of Contact Energy and prior to that establishment of Contact Energy

• Energy Law Association - Chairperson (since 2005) and Executive Committee Member (since 2000)
• Australian Mining & Petroleum Law Association - Member
• Competition Law and Policy Institute of New Zealand - Member
• Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) - Executive Committee Member (1995-2000), Policy Subcommittee Member
• Asia Pacific Legal 500 - Leading energy lawyer
• Also admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Courts of Queensland and New South Wales