Michael Heard is an Auckland barrister and mediator with two decades of experience in complex, high-stakes commercial litigation and arbitration.
Michael has been at the centre of some of New Zealand’s biggest civil cases: the kiwifruit (Psa) class action against the Crown — a three-month trial for the grower plaintiffs — and the defence of the building-product class actions brought against Carter Holt Harvey by the Ministry of Education and by residential homeowners.
Joining the independent bar in 2025 after 12 years as a partner at specialist litigation firm LeeSalmonLong, Michael has appeared at all levels of the New Zealand court system, including the Supreme Court, and in arbitrations and mediations.
His practice areas include:
Complex commercial disputes — litigation and arbitration: contract, shareholder and trust disputes, and claims turning on difficult factual and expert evidence.
Class actions — unusually, Michael has acted for both plaintiffs and defendants in large and complex class actions.
Insurance, aviation and marine — advising underwriters on coverage and recovery, and acting for plaintiffs and defendants in aviation claims.
Construction and product liability — Construction Contracts Act adjudications, arbitration, and High Court litigation for principals, contractors, and suppliers.
Insolvency and security enforcement — acting for and against insolvency practitioners in insolvency-related litigation, and advising directors, creditors, and counterparties on insolvency issues and processes.
Public law and judicial review — including several of New Zealand’s leading cases, at first instance and on appeal through to the Supreme Court.
Before turning to law Michael qualified and worked as a mechanical engineer — a background that has proven valuable in disputes turning on technical and expert evidence, from genetics and plant pathology to building products, aviation, and cryptocurrency.
Michael completed his mediation training at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University, California — one of the world’s foremost dispute resolution programmes. His focus is on early resolution, and he brings to mediation the credibility of counsel who has taken the hardest cases the distance.
Michael was a member of the expert advisory group for the New Zealand Law Commission’s review of class actions and litigation funding (NZLC R147, 2022), has taught on the NZLS Litigation Skills programme faculty since 2018, and is a member of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand. He is a volunteer board member of the Basement Theatre Trust.
Michael accepts instructions in all areas of his practice and appears throughout New Zealand.
