With 24 years of litigation experience and appearances at every level of New Zealand’s court system, Nick is the specialist you want by your side.
Nick has extensive expertise across civil, commercial, tax, and regulatory disputes. His expertise is particularly sought after in company and insolvency law, especially in the dynamic area of directors’ duties. He has appeared in or supervised over 100 directors’ duties proceedings in the High Court and has overseen hundreds of liquidation and bankruptcy cases.
In 2019, he argued New Zealand’s first substantive and precedent-setting directors’ duties case before the Supreme Court. Nick has devised innovative solutions both within and outside the Companies Act 1993 and Property Law Act 2007 to effectively pursue and secure outstanding debts.
Nick’s tax expertise is built on years of representing Inland Revenue in complex civil disputes and prosecutions. His tax acumen led to his appointment in 2018 to the government’s Tax Working Group, chaired by Sir Michael Cullen, to consider improvements to New Zealand’s tax system.
In addition to his legal qualifications, Nick holds an undergraduate degree in accounting, enhancing his expertise in financially focused legal matters.
Nick joined the independent bar in July 2024. Prior to this, he was a senior litigation partner at Meredith Connell, having joined the firm in 2000 and becoming a partner in 2010. He is authorised by the New Zealand Law Society to accept direct instructions from clients.
Nick has consistently achieved successful outcomes for all his clients, whether they are individuals, insolvency practitioners, public or private companies, or government agencies. He remains committed to continuing this track record of success.
Nick thrives in the courtroom and a selected record of his recent litigation experience is set out below. However, most disputes that Nick has acted on are satisfactorily and confidentially resolved, often against the backdrop of Court proceedings.