Significant Cases

John has appeared as counsel in, and project managed, a number of high profile large and complex litigation matters. Major litigation for which John has had responsibility covers a range of commercial fields including competition law, company and takeover litigation, insurance law, franchising, patents, the Fair Trading Act and contractual disputes.

Examples of John's successful management of large scale complex litigation include the major franchising litigation for Dymocks Booksellers in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Privy Council in which Dymocks was entirely successful,  major patent litigation for Eli Lilly resulting in the successful revocation of a competitor’s patent for the use of chemical compounds for medical purposes, and major Commerce Act  litigation for a group of retailers against Visa, MasterCard and the major trading banks which resulted in a settlement just prior to trial.

Further details of of these cases, and other major litigation managed by John, are as follows:
 

• Woolworths, Dick Smith, Foodstuffs, Noel Leeming, Farmers, and Whitcoulls: Acting as senior counsel for a group of major New Zealand retailers who brought substantial Commerce Act proceedings against Visa, MasterCard and the main trading banks, relating to the alleged price fixing of credit card interchange fees and the alleged anti-competitive effect of the Visa and Mastercard scheme rules. The proceedings were successfully settled in late 2009. Read testimonials here.
• Malaysia Airlines: Acting as senior counsel in its defence of significant Commerce Act proceedings by the Commerce Commission relating to alleged price fixing of fuel and security surcharges.
• Call Plus: Acting for CallPlus in Commerce Act proceedings, involving seeking and obtaining injunctive relief, against Telecom, then pursuing and subsequently settling a substantial Commerce Act claim.
• Dymocks Booksellers: Acting as counsel for Dymocks in major litigation on the termination of franchise agreements, and defence of claims relating to misrepresentation, appearing in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Privy Council. Dymocks was entirely successful in the litigation. Read testimonial here.
• Gullivers Pacific: Acting for Gullivers Pacific in its successful High Court opposition to the proposed airline alliance between Qantas and Air New Zealand.
• Eli Lilly: Acting as counsel for Eli Lilly in major patent litigation seeking revocation of a patent of a competitor (Pfizer), which related to use of certain forms of chemical compounds for medical purposes. Eli Lilly was entirely successful in the litigation with its opponent agreeing to all relief sought immediately prior to trial.
• New Zealand Rugby Union: Acting as counsel for New Zealand Rugby Union in its sucesful applications to the Commerce Commission for authorisation of its player transfer regulations and salary cap arrangements, and in sucesfully defending an appeal to the High Court against the player transfer regulations authorisation.