Tim Stephens - Simpson Grierson

Our People

Tim is a partner in the firm's commercial litigation group. He specialises in energy and resources disputes. He also has considerable expertise in the public sector and insolvency.

He has been in practice since 1995. He returned to the firm in 2001 after three years in England, where he undertook postgraduate study at the University of Oxford and worked at a leading London litigation firm.

Examples of Work

OMV New Zealand - litigation between the Pohokura joint venture partners about rules governing offtake of gas
OMV New Zealand - litigation between the Maui joint venture partners about open access to the Maui pipeline
OMV New Zealand - litigation about the operatorship of the Maui and Pohokura fields
Fugro-Geoteam - declaratory proceedings brought with ExxonMobil against the Crown, regarding entitlement to seismic data relating to the Great South Basin
Tap New Zealand - judicial review proceedings against the Crown relating to the refusal of a petroleum exploration permit
Transpower - judicial review proceedings in the High Court brought by New Era Energy concerning the approval by the Electricity Commission of the North Island Grid Upgrade Project
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority - a Waitangi Tribunal claim concerning the Crown's support for the construction of a wind farm on the Te Waka Range
BP Oil New Zealand - litigation against Origin Pacific Airways and Robert Inglis arising out of Origin's compromise of its debts
Christchurch City Council - judicial review proceedings brought by a public interest group concerning the setting of rents for the Council's social housing tenants
New Zealand Guardian Trust - application for directions regarding the treatment of unclaimed redemption and interest payments to missing holders of capital notes and bonds
Lakeview liquidators - High Court proceedings regarding the voidability of payments by receivers to unsecured creditors before the liquidation