Michael heads the firm's construction law team along with Graeme Christie. He is one of New Zealand's leading construction and infrastructure lawyers with 20 years of project and dispute resolution experience across all industry sectors. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Michael was a structural engineer and he remains a member of IPENZ.
Michael is the author of the Building and Construction title in the Laws of New Zealand publication by Lexis Nexis (New Zealand's leading practitioner text). He was also on the drafting committee of NZS3910:2003, the New Zealand Standard Conditions of Contract for Building and Civil Engineering Construction, and had a lead role in the drafting of the latest two editions of the IPENZ/ ACENZ Conditions of Contract for Consultancy Services.
Michael's experience extends across virtually all industry sectors, including building (commercial and residential buildings, prisons, hospitals, and sports and entertainment facilities), roading, transport, mining, tunnelling, water and wastewater, solid waste, electricity, and telecommunications. A key speciality of his is major infrastructure projects and innovative contract structures such as public/private partnerships (PPPs) and alliancing.
His expertise includes the resolution of construction and engineering disputes. Michael has extensive experience in litigation, arbitration, adjudication, dispute review boards, mediation, negotiation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.
- The International Who's Who Legal Construction and Project Finance 2010 - Leading Lawyer
Examples of Work
- Victoria Quarter Development - advising the developer on this $1 billion+ development project, involving over 20 mixed use commercial, retail, and residential buildings adjacent to the Auckland central business district
- Sea+City Projects - advising the developer of the multi-staged, multi-billion dollar redevelopment of an 18 ha area of industrially-zoned reclaimed central city waterfront land and wharves. This is the largest waterfront development project of its type ever undertaken in New Zealand. This project won the Australasian Legal Journal Commercial Property and Construction Deal of the Year in 2008
- Hawkins Construction - advising the head contractor on the $1 billion+ Kawarau Falls resort, a hotel and apartment development in Queenstown
- Tabua Investments - advising the developer on several hotel and retail developments including Radisson Denarau Beach Resort, Port Denarau, Golf Terrace Apartments, and Sheraton Denarau Villas
- Auckland City Council - the $1 billion+ Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (AMETI) project, the Road Maintenance Alliance, the Central Connector project, and the Britomart Transport Centre
- North Shore City Council - Northern Busway project
- Christchurch International Airport - $200 million+ international terminal expansion project
- North Shore City Council - $100 million+ Rosedale waste-water treatment plant upgrade and ocean outfall project
- Christchurch City Council - PPP/DBFO contracts for biosolids treatment and disposal and $85 million ocean outfall project
- Project Manukau - the $500 million+ waste-water treatment plant at Manukau harbour (one of the largest projects of its type in the world)
- Metrowater - Clearwater Alliance contract for sewer and stormwater separation in central Auckland
- Transpower - HVDC Inter-island Link Pole 3 project and North Island Grid Upgrade Project (combined values of over $1.5 billion)
- Meridian Energy - Manapouri Second Tailrace Tunnel
- Project experience encompassing hospitals (including Auckland A+ and Middlemore Hospitals), schools, courts, and sporting and recreational facilities (including Eden Park and the new Otago Stadium)
- Auckland City Council - solid waste collection and disposal contracts across the city
- Transpower - North Island 400kV overhead transmission line project, which was procured on a "competitive alliance" basis (the first "competitive alliance" in New Zealand)
- Department of Corrections - collaborative working arrangements (alliances) for the Regional Prisons Development project and alliancing documentation for the building of four major new prisons in New Zealand
- Christchurch City Council - alliance for the City Mall redevelopment project (including developing simplified procurement processes and contracts for a small scale project of this type)
- Auckland City Council - Freeflow Alliance established for the Grafton Gully to Central Motorway Junction project in central Auckland
- Solid Energy - project alliance with Henry Walker Eltin for the long-term development of mines on the Stockton plateau
- Vector Arena - the $80 million City Vector Arena (a 12,000-seat indoor stadium delivered on a PPP/BOOT basis)
- Rodney District Council - Penlink Toll Road project
- Auckland City Council and Manukau City Council - material recycling facility (undertaken on a PPP/BOOT basis)
- Auckland City Council - Britomart above-ground development
- Christchurch City Council - material recovery facility (DBFO) and organics processing facility (both on PPP/BOOT basis), collection and disposal contracts
- North Shore City Council - "Gasometer" site development in central Takapuna
Other Credentials
- Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand - Member
- INGENIUM - Member
- Society of Construction Law (New Zealand) - Member
- Society of Construction Law (United Kingdom) - Member
- Standards New Zealand - NZS3910 Committee Member
- Solicitor, England and Wales
