Builders’ duty of care revisited
The Court of Appeal has revisited the scope of a builder’s duty of care
Ranking in Doyle’s Guide 2026
Ranked as one of New Zealand’s leading construction and infrastructure barristers for 10 consecutive years.
Move to full-time independent arbitrator and adjudicator
After more than thirty years as counsel, in November 2025 I made the step to full-time practice as an independent arbitrator, adjudicator and dispute resolver.
What is the scope of a builder's duty of care?
Most lawyers, particularly those practising in the area of construction law, will know that the courts have long held that a builder owes a duty to current and future owners to exercise reasonable skill and care when carrying out building work. But what is the precise scope of a builders’ duty of care?
How Not to Expert
In modern arbitration and litigation, cases are often won or lost on the strength of the expert evidence. In this article I examine the lessons lawyers and experts can learn from the UK Technology and Construction Court judgment in Van Oord v Allseas.
Construction Adjudication Do’s and Don’ts: An Adjudicator’s Perspective
Do’s and don’ts of running or responding to an adjudication claim
Construction Adjudication: The Process in 12 Steps
The Construction Contracts Act 2002 has now been in force for almost 17 years. One of its key features is a process for the determination of construction disputes, called adjudication. Adjudication is designed to be a fast and effective way of determining construction disputes. It has become the process of choice for determining construction disputes which cannot be resolved by negotiation. Yet, many construction professionals (to their credit) have still not been involved in a full adjudication process.
There is a lot of information available about adjudication, including entire text books devoted to the subject. The purpose of this article is to outline the adjudication process in 12 steps (a 12 step programme for construction disputes, if you will):
5 tips for going paperless
First, a disclaimer. I'm no tech guru. Far from it. However, I am very interested in the way in which technology is influencing the delivery of professional services, particularly in the legal industry.
I have gone through the process of moving my litigation and arbitration practice to a paperless model this year (not soon enough many would say), and it has revolutionised the way I practise law.
Here are my 5 top tips for those considering going paperless:
Kyburn Investments v Beca: The Epilogue
The photo accompanying this post is of the award-winning interior of the New Zealand Supreme Court. If it looks expensive, that's because it was. It was officially opened in January 2010, and built at a cost of $80.7 million. If you are a party to a case in the Supreme Court, that's expensive too.