Civil Oral Submissions Masterclass (CPD 6.5 hrs)

Hon Sir Terence Arnold KNZM KC

Sir Terence Arnold is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

After graduating in Arts and Law from Victoria University of Wellington and New York University, Sir Terence taught in several law faculties in Canada and New Zealand, specialising in criminal law and justice. From 1982 to 1994 he was a commercial litigator in Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young, specialising in competition and regulatory matters. 

In 1994 Sir Terence joined the independent Bar and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997. He became Solicitor-General in late 2000 and held that position until May 2006, when he was appointed to the Court of Appeal. He joined the Supreme Court in June 2013 and was knighted in 2016 New Year’s Honours. 

In 2017, Sir Terence retired as a permanent judge but continued to sit in the Supreme Court as an acting judge until 2022.  In 2018-2020 he chaired an inquiry into Operation Burnham with Sir Geoffrey Palmer KC and in 2022 carried out a statutory review of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017 with Matanuku Mahuika.  He recently chaired an Expert Working Group on planned relocation resulting from climate change.  

Sir Terence received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from VUW in May 2018 and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Law School.  He is a member of the New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal and sits on the Fiji Supreme Court and the Cook Islands Court of Appeal.

Sir Terence practises from Thorndon Chambers.

Hon Kit Toogood KC

Following over 10 years on the bench, former High Court Judge Kit Toogood KC has now re-established his legal practice.

Kit offers his clients a skillset and experience acquired during 50 years of providing advocacy and advice over, and adjudicating on, a broad range of subject matters.
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Kit's practice areas include: mediation, arbitration, investigation services, disciplinary and litigation advice, and consultancy on governance issues. Kit is available to mediate in all types of conflict or dispute, including relationship property and trusts, employment, disciplinary and commercial matters and sports disputes.

Michael Ring KC

Michael Ring KC was a founding partner of the specialist insurance law firm, McElroys.  He has been practising as a barrister sole since January 1999.  He was appointed as a KC in 2004.  He has practised in the insurance area for over 40 years, during which time he has acted as counsel for almost all of the major insurers and underwriters operating in the local market and for many international insurers.  He has appeared regularly in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, as well as having appeared a number of times in the Privy Council. 

Chris Gudsell KC

Chris Gudsell KC has extensive experience in the coronial jurisdiction as counsel assisting the coroner. He was a Crown Prosecutor in Hamilton between 1989 and 1995. He joined the independent Bar in 1995 and, since that time, has been involved in a wide range of litigation, predominantly in the civil and commercial areas. Chris was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2007.

Chris is also the co-Chair of the Bar Association’s Education Committee. He has been involved in advocacy training for many years and has participated in courses in Australia, Malaysia and in UK at the highly respected Keble Course at Oxford.

Christine Meechan KC

Christine practises exclusively in the field of commercial litigation and has a wealth and depth of experience as a civil litigator.

Commencing practice in a boutique insurance firm in 1985, she moved to Bell Gully in 1987, worked at a specialist insurance firm in London in 1990, then returned in 1991 as a partner at Bell Gully’s Auckland office.

Since moving to the independent bar in 2008 Christine has continued to practise exclusively in commercial litigation, focusing on insurance and construction disputes. These practise areas require an ability to come to grips with factually, technically and legally complex cases which is one of Christine's strengths.

An accomplished advocate at all levels, Christine is also very experienced in mediation and arbitration.

Christine is a Fellow of the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) and practices from Bankside Chambers in Auckland.

Les Taylor KC

Les has practised as a commercial litigator for over 40 years, as Senior Counsel in various jurisdictions including the High Court, Court of Appeal, Privy Council, Supreme Court, Environment Court and Employment Court.

Les has considerable experience in insurance law (particularly professional indemnity) construction law, environmental law (acted as Senior Counsel in Environment Court appeals); shipping law; energy law; Commerce Act and Securities Act issues and employment law (as Senior Counsel in the Employment Court)

He has also negotiated and settled hundreds of cases and have been involved in numerous mediations both as counsel and as a mediator.

Les was senior counsel for the Wellington City Council in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in the Beca Carter v WCC (which is the case on which this masterclass is based).

Les currently practices from Stout Street Chambers in Wellington.

Vanessa Bruton KC

Vanessa is a litigator, now specialising in the resolution of trust, estate and relationship property disputes, in Court and by negotiation, but with a general commercial litigation background. She went to the independent bar in 2014 and took silk in 2016.  She has been lead counsel in a number of the leading cases over recent years, both at first instance and on appeal.  For more about Vanessa see www.trust-litigation.co.nz   

Rachael Reed KC

Appointed as a Kings Counsel in 2017, Rachael has conducted numerous high profile cases. Practising at the intersection of criminal and civil law, she is an expert in fraud, financial services and regulatory cases. She leads long and complex criminal and civil trials. She also assists clients during investigations conducted by all regulators with an eye to minimising risk and managing reputation.

Rachael has also conducted high profile and complex appeals in the Court of Appeal and has been previously appointed counsel to assist the Court in the Supreme Court.

Rachael is also internationally recognised for her advocacy. She has taught advocacy on an Advanced Advocacy Training course in Australia in 2019 and on the reknown South Eastern Circuit Tim Dutton QBE KC Advanced International Advocacy Course at Keble, Oxford for 3 consecutive years in 2019, 2022 and 2023 (courses were not held in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid concerns).

She is also rated in Chambers and Partners for White Collar Crime and Doyles Guide for Criminal, Regulatory Offences & White-Collar Crime matters.

Simon Foote KC

Simon has practiced as a barrister sole since 2002 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in December 2019. Prior to joining the independent bar, he spent five years as a litigator at Russell McVeagh, two years with the International Arbitration Team at Clifford Chance at London and three years as a Crown Prosecutor.

Simon's practice is focused on commercial and civil litigation and arbitration, but also encompasses public law and the prosecution of criminal jury trials. Simon graduated with a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington in 2020. His thesis, “The Bona Fide Investor: Corporate Nationality and Treaty Shopping in Investment Treaty Law” was published by Wolters Kluwer in its International Arbitration Law Library Series in 2022.

Simon currently practices from Bankside Chambers in Auckland and Singapore.

Nura Taefi KC

Nura Taefi is an experienced civil lawyer. She deals with complex and novel legal problems across a range of areas. Her areas of practice include commercial law, intellectual property, trusts, estates, human rights, professional negligence, and relationship property matters.

Nura is recognised by the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific New Zealand directory as a tier one barrister sole for commercial disputes. She appears in the courts at all levels – ranging from specialist tribunals to the Supreme Court. She also works as an independent investigator and represents parties in investigations and inquiries. In 2023 she was appointed to the expert investigation panel for the Sport and Recreation Complaints and Mediation Service and in 2024 was appointed Kings Counsel.

Nikki Pender

Nikki is a barrister at Kate Sheppard Chambers and has 30 years experience representing private sector clients and regulatory agencies in civil, competition, disciplinary and public law matters. Since 2007, Nikki has regularly appeared at coronial inquests as counsel representing families of the deceased, including Karl Kuchenbecker, Debbie Ashton, Stephen Dudley, Christie Marceau and Nicole Tuxford. She was recently appointed counsel for some of the families in the inquest into the Christchurch Masjidian attacks.

Nikki is Co-Chair of our Education Committee.