Our expertise

Acting for the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated in a successful appeal about the interpretation of provisions of the Crown Minerals Act 1991 and Reserves Act 1977 in relation to a proposed coal mine on reserve land

Acted for PwC in a successful application to strike out a $278m claim brought in breach of the liability cap in PwC’s standard terms of business. The judgment also struck out claims against a partner and employee of PwC brought in breach of an agreement not to sue partners and employees of the firm

Acted for a commercial design business defending allegations at trial that it had breached an obligation to make reasonable endeavours to refer to work to the plaintiff construction firm

Acted for directors in the Feltex IPO class action on appeals concerning whether their affirmative defences under s 63 of the Securities Act 1978 should be permitted to go to trial and on the admissibility of the plaintiff's expert evidence as to loss

Acted for a cadastral surveyor resisting an appeal against the dismissal of allegations that he had breached professional standards in surveying of a block of Maori land

Acted for an insurer in an appeal concerning the nature and extent of its obligation to pay full replacement value for a heritage property destroyed in the Canterbury earthquakes

Acted for directors in the Feltex IPO class action in numerous pre-trial applications concerning whether their affirmative defences should be permitted to go to trial, the admissibility of the plaintiff’s quantum evidence, security for costs and other matters

Acted for a cadastral surveyor at trial on technically-complex claims for declarations alleging defects in a cadastral survey of a block of Maori land in the Hokianga

Acted for an insurer in defending at trial a claim for earthquake damage to a residential property in Canterbury

Acting for a local government organisation seeking to claim from Mobil Oil the substantial cost of cleaning up contaminated land on the Auckland waterfront

Acted for an insurer defending claims at trial brought by a customer alleging that a residential property had been damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes

Defended a fund manager in a high profile and market leading proceeding brought by the Financial Markets Authority alleging market manipulation

Defended a law firm at trial against claims arising out of the preparation of a will and trust deed for an elderly client

Defended a major bank against substantial civil claims at trial arising from the sale of interest rate swaps

Acted for a maritime lawyer defending claims at trial arising from the sale of a fishing trawler to a Russian buyer

Acted for a beneficiary of high value family trusts in proceedings to remove trustees that raised complex issues of capacity and undue influence in the context of trusts and testamentary dispositions

Acted for an insurer defending claims at trial relating to the scope and cost of reinstatement work to a property damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes and the scope of the insurer’s duty of good faith

Acting for an insurer in a leading test case on the operation of total replacement policy for residential insureds in the context of Christchurch earthquake claims

Acted for an insurer in an appeal concerning the insurer’s right to elect to settle a claim by reinstatement or by payment and the obligation of the High Court to decide cases in accordance with the pleadings

Acted for a borrower in a proceeding concerning whether a late payment fee under a loan agreement was an unenforceable penalty

Acting for a corporate trustee in defending a third party claim by a finance company director for contribution to his alleged liabilities to investors

Acted for the Rescue Helicopter Trust in a judicial review challenging the Funding Board’s decision to reduce its annual grant

Acted for Nakedbus in a trade mark dispute over advertising using Google AdWords

Acted for a corporate trustee seeking the appointment of the Public Trust as the replacement trustee to a failed finance company

Acted for the owners of residential apartments in a damaged multi-storey unit title development in an appeal concerning the apportionment of repair costs among all unit owners

Acted for an insurer in a test case concerning whether a house within the residential ‘red zone’ in Christchurch was a constructive total loss as a result of the Government’s decision to offer to purchase all insured properties within the zone

Acted for a private training establishment in a judicial review challenging a decision by Immigration New Zealand and NZQA on the grounds that they had breached its rights to natural justice

Acted for the vendor of a healthcare information software business in an appeal concerning the scope of a clause limiting the liability of the purchaser of the business for breach of an all reasonable endeavours obligation supporting the purchaser’s earn-out of the purchase price

Acted for shareholders opposing an application to liquidate a substantial holding company on the basis that the shareholder-appointed directors were deadlocked

Acted for the corporate trustee of a finance company’s publicly-issued debt securities in a proceeding concerning duties allegedly owned by the trustee to the issuer of the securities

Acted for the manager of a substantial property trust in opposing an application for injunction brought by an organization opposed to proposals to internalize the trust’s management function

Acted for the owner of a commercial building in relation to claims concerning whether a fire had rendered the premises untenantable resulting in termination of a lease

Acting for an insurer in a contractual dispute with a major bank over the ownership of bank-branded insurance policies following termination of the agency relationship

Acted for a barrister applying to strike out a claim that he owned a duty of care to his client’s adversary

Acted for the organisers of the Auckland Christmas Parade in a judicial review concerning whether they were required to allow a particular group to participate in the parade

Acting for the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated in appealing a decision of the Environmental Protection Authority to grant consent for a proposed seabed ironsands mining operation off the Taranaki coast

Acting for an insurer on a question of law referred from the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal as to the interpretation of an insurance policy and the application of the indemnity principle

Acting for an insurer in applying to dismiss an insurance claim under the Limitation Act 2010