sally@mcmillanco.nz

027 201 7788

Family & Relationship Property Law * Criminal, Traffic & Regulatory Law * Mediation & Dispute Resolution * Immigration Law * University Disciplinary Matters * Inquests * Family  Protection * Health and Disability Commission

Sally was born, raised and educated in Otago and has been a lawyer in Dunedin for most of the last 40 years specialising in various aspects of litigation, advocacy and dispute resolution.

Sally’s current practice is focussed on -

Relationship Property disputes - at all levels, including for high-net-worth individuals and involving complex structures including farms, trusts and companies.

Criminal matters – criminal and driving charges, fraud related investigations and prosecutions, applications for discharge without conviction, name suppression, limited licenses, and Special Reasons applications under the Land Transport Act.

University disciplinary matters – representation on Warden, Proctor and Provost investigations, including appeals and academic disciplinary proceedings.

Immigration – visa and residence applications, including Skilled Migrant and Investor category applications, and appeals to the Immigration & Protection Tribunal.

Mediation – privately referred mediations in any of her practice areas, including relationship property, family or family law matters, estate, school and workplace disputes. Sally is a NZ Law Society trained Mediator, on the NZLS Panel of Mediators and a member of AMINZ.

Lawyer for Child and Lawyer to Assist the Court – appointed by the Court to represent children or assist the court in family law proceedings.

Family Protection and Testamentary Promises proceedings.

Sally’s practice background

After graduating in 1985 Sally spent 7 years at the Dunedin Crown Solicitors office where she was counsel on numerous district and high court trials, and headed the regulatory team, prosecuting for crown entities. During this time, she also practiced family and relationship property law, and mastered the basics of property and estate practice.

After an OE travelling and practising in the UK for a firm specialising in personal injury litigation, Sally was appointed as an Investigating Prosecutor for the Ministry of Fisheries, working initially on the high profile investigation and prosecution of Rex Haig for conspiring to defraud the quota management system.

There followed a number of years as a litigation partner with Anderson Lloyd in Dunedin, during which time she worked with both private clients (including on relationship property matters) and public entities including DCC regulatory teams, the University of Otago and the Southern DHB. For several years a significant part of her practice focussed on the Otago DHB Swann fraud. Drawing on her previous experience, Sally led the internal investigation for the DHB, the engagement with forensic accountants and the referral to the SFO, then worked closely with the SFO, the Police and the Crown to secure conviction in relation to what was, at that time, NZ’s largest ever fraud. Sally has since defended a number of other clients on fraud and related criminal charges, and acted for several public and private entities advising on internal fraud investigations.

McMillan&Co.

Sally was the sole Principal of McMillan&Co. from 2014 and has since been joined in partnership by Simon. Having experienced a range of different practice models over 25+ years she says she wanted the challenge of running her own boutique business in her own way. Having become officially “middle-aged” and having picked up some “life experience” along the way, she also felt that she was now thoroughly qualified, not just legally but also personally, to advise and advocate for people when life takes a turn for the worse.

Sally considers it a real privilege to help and be trusted by people in their times of personal crisis; she is well-known among her colleagues for her tenacity and perseverance, and among her many loyal clients for working hard in applying her years of experience to get the best possible outcome for them.

Under Sally’s leadership the firm prioritises client service, recognising that the work that McMillan&Co. specialises in as a private client firm is very personal to clients and requires a hands-on, roll your sleeves up approach.

Other potentially interesting information …

Outside the law Sally is currently –

• The co-Chair of Dunedin iD Fashion
• Honorary Solicitor to the NZ Federation of Graduate Women
• Honorary Solicitor to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society
• Presenter of DPAG Society radio show SIGHTLINES
• A Patron of the Otago Polytechnic School of Art
• An Associate of AMINZ

Sally is also a former Deputy-Chair of the John McGlashan College Board of Trustees, spent 6 years on the Legal Aid Review Tribunal, and has served as Convenor of the Otago Women Lawyers Society and on the Council of the Otago District Law Society.

Married to another Lawyer, Sally is the proud mother of 2 fine young men (both law graduates) and 2 neurotic dogs. A keen cook, she is an enthusiastic member of The Dunedin Food and Wine Society, practices yoga, and maintains a gym membership to compensate for all the food and wine …

For other fun she moonlights as an interior design consultant and is an erstwhile writer for NZ House and Garden publications, she collects Crown Lynn crockery and New Zealand art, writes a blog, tries to play the piano and enjoys planning excursions to faraway places.