Experience

We have advised:

• Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust, which filed judicial review proceedings against the Attorney-General, relating to decisions made about parcels of land, which Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei says, is within its core area of interest. This assertion is made on the basis of extensive historical evidence and its settlement with the Crown regarding historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi
• EQC, as its primary legal adviser, on all aspects of its statutory natural disaster insurance obligations, including all earthquake-related insurance claims and associated litigation arising from the Canterbury earthquakes. The sheer volume of claims and litigation arising from the earthquakes is unprecedented in New Zealand history. So far the damage has generated in excess of 460,000 claims and EQC’s potential exposure runs to over $12b
• Solid Energy’s major bank creditors in High Court proceedings challenging the Deed of Company Arrangement that provides for the orderly sale, realisation and distribution of Solid Energy Group assets over a two and a half year period
• Vector in several successful arbitrations against the Kapuni Mining Companies relating to Vector's entitlements to gas from the Kapuni gas field, New Zealand's oldest producing gas and condensate field

• Wellington International Airport in a High Court judicial review relating to the airport’s proposed runway extension, a $350m project of national significance that will involve substantial land reclamation extending out into Wellington’s Lyall Bay
• STP Energy (Singapore) in High Court and international arbitration proceedings relating to a significant energy dispute with a US company concerning rights over offshore petroleum in New Zealand
• an overseas company in the first successful application in New Zealand for obtaining evidence for use in a foreign (LCIA, London) arbitration
• a sovereign state in a successful application for assistance in New Zealand to obtain evidence for use in a US District Court proceeding
• Ross Asset Management and David Ross in high profile litigation arising from the involvement of Ross in the running of New Zealand’s largest ever Ponzi scheme under which in an estimated $115m was lost by investors
• Shanghai Pengxin in High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court proceedings relating to its successful Overseas Investment Office application for the purchase of a substantial portfolio of dairy farms (the Crafar farms) in New Zealand
• PwC on contentious issues arising out of the receivership of the Strategic Finance companies, including on the recovery of loans and investments in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. The receivership ranks alongside South Canterbury Finance and Bridgecorp as one of the largest failures of a financial institution in New Zealand in the last 20 years
• BlueScope Steel subsidiaries New Zealand Steel and Toward Industries, in High Court challenges to arbitral awards brought by Hong Kong listed Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings
• James Hardie in relation to a weathertight homes litigation
• New Zealand Mines Rescue Trust at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River coal mine tragedy, the closing hearing of which was held in Greymouth in April 2012. The inquiry sat for 11 weeks, split into four phases, and
• Japan Airlines – assisting in defending Japan Airlines in Commerce Commission proceedings alleging anti-competitive cartel operations relating to transportation of cargo. The case was a significant test case relating to the “jurisdictional reach” of the Commerce Act.