[7] It was reported on 14 October 2021 that Russell McVeagh intended to require all staff, clients, and visitors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

[8] In 2018 the firm was criticised in the media for its handling of sexual assault allegations, levelled against two senior male lawyers.

[9] It was alleged that those lawyers engaged in non-consensual and consensual sexual acts with female intern students.

[10][11] These allegations led all the six university law schools in New Zealand to cut ties with Russell McVeagh.

Dame Margaret Bazley was engaged to lead the inquiry into the claims of sexual harassment and assault.

[19] In February 2021, the firm said it had addressed nearly 95% of Bazley's recommendations, including introducing a whistleblower service and a "speak-up" policy, but some remained as works-in-progress.

[25][26] Other notable alumni include: Russell McVeagh supports a range of different charities and organisations through pro bono work.

[35] Russell McVeagh has achieved high rankings in law firm ranking guides in various fields, including banking and finance,[36][37] competition and antitrust,[36] corporate and M&A,[38][37]capital markets,[37] dispute resolution,[38] project development,[37] real estate,[38][36] restructuring and insolvency,[38] tax,[36][38] and technology, media and telecommunications (TMT).