February 2017
FIRST CALL TO THE BAR: 2004 (NZ – 8 yrs)
LAST CALL TO THE BAR: 2015 (Qld)
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Arts - Victoria University of Wellington, 1998
First Admitted as a Solicitor (NZ): 1999
First Admitted as a Solicitor (Qld & Cth): 2012
Wilson QC reference
PROFILE:
I have appeared regularly as an advocate for more than 16 years. I combine this experience with technical skills and commercial acumen to deliver quality advocacy and advice.
I practised at the New Zealand independent bar for eight years before moving to Brisbane. There, I appeared unled in courts and tribunals up to the Court of Appeal. My role as a Queensland solicitor focused on commercial and contract disputes, insolvency, partnership and director disputes, and professional negligence. After three years as a solicitor, I was called to the Queensland Bar.
I am a self-starter, comfortable with taking the initiative, and happy providing leadership and guidance as necessary. I appeared as co-counsel in a three-week resource management appeal before being admitted in New Zealand. I then remained the UK, and appeared unled in numerous County Court appeals, and in the High Court, before commencing practice as a barrister on my return to New Zealand.
MATTERS AT QUEENSLAND BAR:
I have provided advice and appeared in the Supreme and District Courts and QCAT on commercial contract disputes, corporate and personal insolvency matters, real property disputes, negligent and misleading provision of financial advice and other services, building disputes, restraints of trade, and on native title-related instructions from the State.
SELECTED MATTERS QUEENSLAND (AS SOLICITOR):
Partnership / Contract
Dispute between deadlocked directors of a trustee company of two separate trusts operating business in partnership. Secured representative orders under Corporations Act, and sought substantive orders under partnership deed or as a result of directors’ duties for on individual to disclose extent of personal competition.
Insolvency
Secure change of liquidator, undertake public examinations and commence proceedings for breaches of director’s duties, voidable preferences, uncommercial transactions and insolvent trading.
Executive Employment, Discipline, Taxation
Negotiate resolution of disciplinary proceedings against senior executive, secure employer's acknowledgement of redundancy, preserve bonus entitlements and provide advice as to structuring and tax consequences of settlement.
Enforcing Restraint of Trade
Secured ex parte injunction prohibiting further breaches of vendor / former employee’s restraints of trade. Subsequently settled on satisfactory commercial basis.
Statutory and Equitable Trusts and Trustees
Advise on and settle proceeding for alleged breaches of trust, secure reimbursement of trustee's expenses from trust fund and from errant fellow trustee.
Professional Negligence
Claims against engineers for inadequate specification of footings for commercial premises on reactive soils. Defended summary judgment application, requiring close analysis of law on latent defects.
Trespass, Landlord and Tenant
Claim for damages against landlord for trespassing on leased area, or otherwise derogating from grant of leased area, by blocking airspace in front of area leased for signage purposes.
SELECTED BRIEFS OF INTEREST AT NEW ZEALAND BAR:
Breach of Contract / Remedies
Primary industry – mismanagement of beekeeping operation. Working with technical and valuation experts to establish breach of contract, and calculate damages including on loss of opportunity basis.
Misrepresentation / Property
Misrepresentation in sale of real estate. Establish causation, assess lost market value and consequential damages.
Property – Landlocked land
Defend application for access to landlocked land, to establish satisfactory compensation and terms of easement. Working with expert to value statutory easement and apply compensation principles within complex historical fact scenario.
Administrative Law / Treaty of Waitangi / Indigenous Property
Lodge and present National claims claims seeking to establish and define historic and current indigenous water rights.
Professional Negligence / Taxation
Professional negligence claim against accountancy firm for provision of defective restructuring advice leading to unnecessary tax costs.
Trust / Contract / Finance
Successful defence against allegations that client was borrower rather than trustee of large contributory mortgage, and against claims of breach of trusteeship. Ongoing representation and advice in realisation of complicated loans and securities, including interpretation and rectification of major security instrument.
Contract / Public Law / Conversion
High profile case establishing ownership of ceremonial waka (Maori canoe). Establishing non-monetary input by Maori as sufficient consideration for joint proprietary interest with the funder, a local authority.
Occupational Safety and Health
Advising and mitigating sentence for repeated failure to provide safe workplace. Detailed analysis of principle and previous sentences in opposing attempt to set a costly deterrent "example" for the industry.
G v R & Ors - Trust
Represented Trustees in proceedings as to ownership of proceeds of lotto win. Issues included ability to impose constructive over express trusts, trust administration and credibility issues.
Re Hokio A – Property, Administrative Law
Roading, accretion and erosion, validity of delegation of statutory powers. Counsel for applicants seeking license fees for utility services buried in alleged “paper road”. Application for declarations as to invalidity of roadway and confirmation of Maori ownership of coastal lands.
Re Matauri X – Administrative Law, Remedies
Successful appeal against permanent trespass injunction. Failure of lower Court to consider discretion and alternative remedies prior to issuing injunction.
Trusts, Administrative Law
Seeking authorisation of trustee actions, and defending proceedings alleging lack of prudence in investment decision, failure to consider interests of beneficiaries. Issues include interpretation of trust deed, approach to powers of appointment and removal, and remedies.
D v Waitangi Tribunal – Judicial Review, Administrative Law
Judicial review of alleged breach of natural justice by failure to allow plaintiff to adduce evidence before statutory Tribunal.
Professional Standards and Discipline
Advising and representing client before professional standards committee.
Trusts, Estates
Successful declaratory judgment approving resettlement of $2.5M estate trust in contentious proceedings, without unanimous consent of beneficiaries, or express powers in trust instrument.
Treaty Settlement – Governance, Administrative & Public Law
Part of team advising two Central North Island Iwi in settlement process. Advice regarding post-settlement governance structures and processes, involving trust law, governance and administration.
Trustees of Mokoia Island v K J – trespass, contracts
Successful commercial trespass claim. Issues included interpretation of prior license agreement, capacity to transfer licence, whether implied authority granted, ability of minority to bind trust. Law of trespass generally.
Contract Dispute - District Court and High Court Appeal & Judicial Review
Bitter contractual dispute re validity of alleged termination of contract and recoverability of subsequent fees. Agency, authority and delegation issues. Subsequent successful judicial review of parts of judgment which went beyond pleading and made adverse comments about party in breach of natural justice.
Various Trust litigation
Extensive trust litigation re prudent trusteeship, powers of trustees, permissibility of particular discretionary distributions.
Te Maru o Ngati Rangiwewehi v Rotorua District Council - Resource Management
Three-week Environment Court challenge to proposed water abstraction by District Council. Briefed and managed hydrogeological, civil engineering and planning expert witnesses. Successful claim that surface water abstraction from local spring, regarded as Taonga of local Iwi, should cease if viable groundwater alternative identified. Claimants proved high level feasibility sufficient to have consent term reduced on basis that Council should design and implement groundwater alternative.
New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists – Commercial, Administrative, Public Law
Led the case for principal party to a Ministerial Review of funding and contracting of physiotherapists by New Zealand Government. Briefed and managed economists, corporate finance experts, payroll experts and others in assessing appropriate price for physiotherapy services purchased by Crown entity. Critique of conceptual modelling approach, input assumptions, and policy and legal framework. Extensive lobbying of Government to secure Review and implement outcomes.
Waitangi Tribunal CNI Historical Claims – Maori Issues, Administrative Law
Key advocacy role in Central North Island Tribunal hearings, including leading Rotorua Regional submissions. Synthesising tens of thousands of pages of historical research, Treaty jurisprudence and public policy to produce detailed submissions as to systemic Treaty breaches affecting central North Island Maori.
Waitangi Tribunal Geothermal Resumption Claims – Maori Issues, Property
Claim based on CNI Tribunal findings as to ongoing customary ownership and/or wrongful Crown exploitation of Maori geothermal resources. Sought further orders directing the return of Crown-derived geothermal encumbrances to local Maori.
Waitangi Tribunal Seabed and Foreshore Claims – Maori Issues, Property, Administrative Law
Argued continuing common law indigenous title in accordance with jurisprudence indicating interpretation of statutory alienation without compensation. Issues included constitutional limits of Crown in "special juridical area” of sea bed, and impact of public access on continuing private property rights.
Waitangi Tribunal CNI Mandate Claims - Maori Issues, Administrative Law
A series of three separate week long enquiries into mandate issues, fairness and Treaty compliance of Crown in settlement process. Application of extensive Crown policy, Governance best practice and Treaty jurisprudence to complex facts.
F v Minister In Charge Of Treaty Negotiations - Maori Issues, Administrative Law
High Court claim for declarations and injunction arising from ministerial recognition of mandate to negotiate claims of local Iwi. Alleged errors of fact and law in process.
S v A W – Professional Negligence
Successful defence of professional negligence claims against architects in regard to design, specification and cost for private residence.
K v TDC – Resource Management, Administrative Law
Judicial review and injunction regarding wrongfully non-notified consent. Substantial redevelopment and increase in volume of adjoining premises threatened amenity and value of client’s beachfront home. Secured injunction and negotiated settlement.
Traditional Tribes v TOWFC – Administrative Law, Maori Issues
Judicial review of proposed scheme for allocation of Maori Fisheries settlement after a decade of policy development and interlocutory skirmishing. Case of major constitutional and economic significance for Maori, dealing with distribution of assets then worth $700M. Brought in as counsel following collapse of funding for Queen’s Counsel previously instructed. Subsequent appeal to Court of Appeal.
UNITED KINGDOM (2001 – 2003):
Appeared in County Courts on approximately a dozen statutory housing appeals on behalf of London Borough of Ealing. Secured leave to appear as officer of corporation. Proceedings were effectively codified judicial review of Borough’s decisions in regard to particular applications for social housing.
Other in-house positions as litigation assistant at City of Westminster and Legal Services Agency.
2001 AND PRIOR:
Litigation solicitor at Woodward Law Offices 1999 – 2001.
Urban Maori v TOWFC
Appeared as junior in Privy Council appeal on preliminary question of law related to aspects of the Maori Fisheries litigation.
Woodward Law General
Typically juniored to Ian Millard QC, John Fogarty QC or other silk. Mix of:
- administrative law matters– judicial review, declaratory proceedings, injunctions, preliminary questions of law;
- progress of litigation / advice / negotiations regarding matters including:
o damages for negligent management of forestry block – working closely with forest management expert to model expected outcomes and assess damages;
o resolution of airport runway extension dispute – working with aviation experts in regard to airport / flightpath planning;
o land valuation.
- High level role in developing and managing a project to progress settlement of all Treaty claims in the Central North Island region. Detailed legal, communications and project management role to support comprehensive statement of claim, work with expert historians to develop and quality assure comprehensive research programme, communicate and coordinate with 101 individual claimants, progress case management / oversight of process by Waitangi Tribunal through interlocutory conferencing.
Other
Prior to admission, co-counsel in 3-week resource management appeal against local roading scheme. Appeared as officer of incorporated society, taking particular responsibility for briefing evidence from and cross examining transport planners and traffic demand modelling experts, urban designers and historians.
PUBLISHED ARTICLES
- Contract Law-Certainty Versus Correctness after Vector Gas: NZLawyer Extra, 30 July 2010
- Vector Gas - What does it Mean: NZLawyer issue 134, 16 April 2010
- Commercial Weathertightness - An Open Question: NZLawyer issue 103, 12 December 2008
- RMA Alternatives - An Exception To Fleetwing: NZLawyer issue 98, 3 October 2008
ENDS