Nia Statham 

Experience

Nia trained and qualified in London as a competition associate in 2017 before practicing overseas in New Zealand. She was inspired by her secondment to Brussels to follow an international career and has been practicing for just under 3 years. Upon qualifying, she primarily assisted with a multi-jurisdictional regulatory investigation and was also responsible for supervising and instructing a large team of shadowers during a dawn raid conducted by the UK's Competition Markets Authority. In New Zealand, Nia obtained trial experience in which she helped to successfully defend a large US bank in an employment related dispute. She also assisted on various competition matters, including a successful merger clearance application and an ongoing behavioural investigation, before dedicating more time to a broader commercial dispute practice. Most recently, Nia was heavily involved in defending a former managing director against a multi-million dollar proceeding for, inter alia, alleged breaches of directors' duties and assisted New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority to bring a claim against a multi-national insurer for breaches of disclosure obligations.

Background

Nia completed her legal studies with the University of Law and obtained casework experience at the Crown Prosecution Service. She went on to paralegal in pensions and banking at two international firms before commencing her training contract with a US firm. During her training contract she was heavily involved in producing discovery opinions on a competition claim concerning the multi-lateral interchange fee brought against a card payment scheme, which later enjoyed a landmark victory at the Supreme Court in 2020. She split her time between Brussels and London during her first seat, and later completed rotations with the banking and employment teams. She was invited to join the antitrust team and qualify slightly earlier to assist on an antitrust regulatory investigation which involved the completion of an extensive document review. This matter took her to mainland Europe for the purposes of conducting compliance interviews. Nia took the opportunity to practice in New Zealand so that she could dedicate more time to the outdoor pursuits she is passionate about, which include multi-day hiking, long distance and trail running.

Memberships

Law Society, renewal date 31 October 2021.