Our Work

2008

Carter Holt Harvey
Bell Gully is acting for Carter Holt Harvey in a multi-million dollar High Court claim against Genesis Energy and Rolls-Royce NZ relating to the cogeneration plant built at Carter Holt Harvey's Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill. A 14-week fixture is scheduled for mid-2008.

Commerce Commission credit cards
Bell Gully is acting for ANZ National Bank in a proceeding brought by the Commerce Commission under the Commerce Act against all the major banks, Visa and Mastercard alleging price-fixing in relation to the setting of Visa and Mastercard interchange fees and that other Visa and Mastercard rules are anticompetitive. The case is ongoing.

Woolworths' takeover of The Warehouse
Bell Gully is advising Woolworths (Australia) Limited on its potential acquisition of up to 100% of the shares in, or assets of, New Zealand’s largest general merchandise retailer, Warehouse Group Limited. Bell Gully advised Woolworths in its application to the Commerce Commission for clearance to acquire the Warehouse, its appeal to the High Court over the Commission's decision to decline that application and the Commission's subsequent appeal of the High Court's decision to the Court of Appeal.

Finance Companies including Bridgecorp Finance Limited (In Receivership)
Acting for the receivers of a number of finance companies on litigation matters, including bringing recovery claims against directors of Bridgecorp Finance.

Access Brokerage Limited (In Liquidation)
Acting for the Bank of New Zealand and the liquidators of Access Brokerage Limited, KordaMentha, on the liquidation of Access Brokerage, including advising on the trust claims of clients of Access Brokerage.

ASB Bank's tax challenge proceedings
Bell Gully is acting for ASB Bank on three proceedings challenging tax assessments issued by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue in relation to a number of structured finance transactions.

Te Arawa Treaty of Waitangi settlement
Bell Gully is acting for Te Arawa in court proceedings concerning a fiduciary claim arising out of a Treaty settlement. Bell Gully has successfully defended the settlement in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal and it is subject to a final appeal to the Supreme Court.

Waikato District Health Board: Lab services judicial review
Acted for Waikato DHB in judicial review defending proceedings over the award of a laboratory services contract. The plaintiff discontinued proceedings just prior to trial.

2007

Trelise Cooper v Tamsin Cooper
Bell Gully acted for Arrowtown fashion designer Tamsin Cooper in relation to High Court proceedings brought against her by Trelise Cooper Limited, a company associated with the fashion designer Trelise Cooper. This was a high profile dispute relating to Tamsin Cooper's ability to trade under her own name, and involved claims for trade mark infringement, passing off and the Fair Trading Act. The matter was resolved in July 2007 by Trelise Cooper discontinuing the proceedings and abandoning oppositions which had been lodged against the "Tamsin Cooper" trade marks. Trelise Cooper also agreed that Tamsin Cooper has the right to continue to trade under her own name.

Osmose New Zealand and Osmose Australia
Bell Gully acted for multinational wood preservative company Osmose in a long-running Commerce Commission investigation and court proceedings seeking penalties under the Commerce Act against a number of corporate and individual defendants. The Commission has described it as New Zealand's biggest cartel case. A settlement was reached and approved by the High Court.

Midavia Rail Investments
Bell Gully acted for Midavia Rail in proceedings brought by the Securities Commission alleging breaches of the Securities Markets Act 1988 over the sale of shares in Tranz Rail Holdings Ltd in early 2002. The firm appeared successfully for its clients in the Court of Appeal obtaining a decision in December 2006 striking out the Securities Commission’s claim for pecuniary penalties. A settlement was reached in June 2007.

Greymouth Petroleum Holdings Ltd v Todd Taranaki
Bell Gully acted successfully for Greymouth Petroleum in a High Court dispute concerning the ambit of legislative prohibitions against exploration and mining, competing land access claims and competing claims by an outgoing permit holder to plug, and by an incoming permit holder to use, existing oil and gas wells in the permit area.  This is now the leading case on legislative prohibitions against petroleum exploration and mining and on plug and abandonment obligations in relation to existing oil & gas wells.

Downer Construction (New Zealand) Ltd v Silverfield Developments Ltd (Formerly Redwood Group No 8 Ltd)
Bell Gully acted successfully in the High Court for developer Redwood Group in a high profile leaky building case over a major townhouse complex in Auckland. This was the first time the New Zealand courts had made an order for "specific performance" against a building contractor, finding that Downer Construction must fix the problems in the building complex, estimated at NZ$4million.

TelstraClear Limited
Bell Gully has appeared for TelstraClear before the High Court in Wellington and the Court of Appeal on three separate regulatory-related disputes with Telecom. In 2006, the Court of Appeal heard an appeal brought by Telecom against a 2005 judgment of the High Court in favour of TelstraClear which declared that the Commission has the power to backdate its determination of the price on which Telecom is required to supply regulated services to TelstraClear.

South Pacific Shipping Limited
We acted as counsel for liquidators on the largest successful reckless trading claim against the director of South Pacific Shipping Limited. The High Court order that a company director should pay over NZ$8.4 million to the company's liquidators, a ruling that was also upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Discount Brands Ltd v Westfield (New Zealand)
We acted for Discount Brands Ltd in the first commercial case to be considered by the New Zealand Supreme Court, which is now the leading authority on resource management applications.

Origin: Ministry permit judicial review
Acted for Origin opposing a judicial review proceeding by a competitor seeking to set aside an exploration permit which Origin obtained from the Ministry of Economic Development. Origin was successful in the High Court and Court of Appeal.