Meet Scott Russell

With over two decades of experience in dispute resolution, Scott Russell brings a rare blend of legal precision, commercial insight, and global perspective to every matter he handles. His career spans both private and public sectors, where he has successfully resolved complex commercial disputes for national and international clients across industries—with a particular depth in construction law.

Scott is adept in all major dispute forums, including adjudication, arbitration, mediation, and litigation. Clients value his pragmatic, commercially grounded advice and his unwavering focus on achieving outcomes efficiently and effectively.

Scott began his legal journey at Bell Gully, cutting his teeth on New Zealand’s longest-running construction litigation—CHH v Rolls Royce & Genesis—spending nearly 200 days in court. That experience sparked (or possibly scarred into him) a lifelong passion for construction law.

His career then took him abroad: first to Hong Kong, where he specialised in construction and commercial litigation, and then to London, where he served as Head of Litigation for Virgin Media. Returning to New Zealand in 2015, Scott joined the Commerce Commission before founding Russell Legal in 2018, which evolved into Russell van Hout in 2025.

Scott holds an MBA from the University of Auckland and approaches disputes with a sharp commercial lens. He also studied at the University of California and maintains strong international networks built through years of global practice.

Outside the office, Scott is a committed slow traveller with a taste for the absurd. His journeys include driving a 7-horsepower moto-rickshaw 3,000km across northern India, mountain biking 800km along the Camino de Santiago, bussing 10,000km through South America, and trucking 6,000km from Cape Town to Kenya.

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