Matthew Harris

Profile

Matthew is a senior adviser and advocate in commercial and civil disputes.  His practice encompasses company and commercial law, contract, insurance, professional negligence and discipline, class actions, construction, property, equity and trusts.


With over 25 years in practice, Matthew has acted in many cases involving novel legal issues, factual complexity and matters of public importance. He has appeared in more than 50 multi-day trials and appeals, usually as leader, and has led dozens of other hearings in the senior courts and before arbitrators and specialist tribunals.


Chambers & Partners has described Matthew as “a persuasive advocate on his feet and in correspondence”, “strategic, hard-working and on top of the details” and “a real team player”. He has also been ranked by Legal500, Who’s Who Legal and Doyles (for construction disputes).


Recent engagements include:

  • acting for Sir Owen Glenn's Kea Investments in multi-jurisdictional fraud proceedings involving a US judgment for US$127 million
  • successfully opposing class action certification in the Alucobond cladding litigation in the High Court and Court of Appeal
  • acting for SkyCity in a high value claim in respect of delays to the New Zealand International Convention Centre project
  • acting for infrastructure contractors in construction arbitrations
  • advising on liability and property insurance claims, particularly where indemnity/coverage is complex or disputed
  • appearing for Ngāti Te Ata in a significant appeal seeking redress for historical confiscations and Public Works Act takings of land.

Before joining the independent bar, Matthew practised at Gilbert Walker for over 16 years. His international experience includes acting for major corporates and financial institutions at leading firms in London (Clifford Chance, Davis Polk) and Washington, DC (Covington & Burling).


Matthew holds an LLB(Hons) and BA from the University of Auckland and an LLM from New York University, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar. He is admitted to practice in New Zealand, New York, and England & Wales.


Further details of Matthew's case history and other activities in the profession and wider community appear below.

Profile

Matthew is a senior adviser and advocate in commercial and civil disputes.  His practice encompasses company and commercial law, contract, insurance, professional negligence and discipline, class actions, construction, property, equity and trusts.


With over 25 years in practice, Matthew has acted in many cases involving novel legal issues, factual complexity and matters of public importance. He has appeared in more than 50 multi-day trials and appeals, usually as leader, and has led dozens of other hearings in the senior courts and before arbitrators and specialist tribunals.


Chambers & Partners has described Matthew as “a persuasive advocate on his feet and in correspondence”, “strategic, hard-working and on top of the details” and “a real team player”. He has also been ranked by Legal500, Who’s Who Legal and Doyles (for construction disputes).


Recent engagements include:

  • acting for Sir Owen Glenn's Kea Investments in multi-jurisdictional fraud proceedings involving a US judgment for US$127 million
  • successfully opposing class action certification in the Alucobond cladding litigation in the High Court and Court of Appeal
  • acting for SkyCity in a high value claim in respect of delays to the New Zealand International Convention Centre project
  • acting for infrastructure contractors in construction arbitrations
  • advising on liability and property insurance claims, particularly where indemnity/coverage is complex or disputed
  • appearing for Ngāti Te Ata in a significant appeal seeking redress for historical confiscations and Public Works Act takings of land.

Before joining the independent bar, Matthew practised at Gilbert Walker for over 16 years. His international experience includes acting for major corporates and financial institutions at leading firms in London (Clifford Chance, Davis Polk) and Washington, DC (Covington & Burling).


Matthew holds an LLB(Hons) and BA from the University of Auckland and an LLM from New York University, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar. He is admitted to practice in New Zealand, New York, and England & Wales.


Further details of Matthew's case history and other activities in the profession and wider community appear below.

Profile

Matthew is a senior adviser and advocate in commercial and civil disputes.  His practice encompasses company and commercial law, contract, insurance, professional negligence and discipline, class actions, construction, property, equity and trusts.


With over 25 years in practice, Matthew has acted in many cases involving novel legal issues, factual complexity and matters of public importance. He has appeared in more than 50 multi-day trials and appeals, usually as leader, and has led dozens of other hearings in the senior courts and before arbitrators and specialist tribunals.


Chambers & Partners has described Matthew as “a persuasive advocate on his feet and in correspondence”, “strategic, hard-working and on top of the details” and “a real team player”. He has also been ranked by Legal500, Who’s Who Legal and Doyles (for construction disputes).


Recent engagements include:

  • acting for Sir Owen Glenn's Kea Investments in multi-jurisdictional fraud proceedings involving a US judgment for US$127 million
  • successfully opposing class action certification in the Alucobond cladding litigation in the High Court and Court of Appeal
  • acting for SkyCity in a high value claim in respect of delays to the New Zealand International Convention Centre project
  • acting for infrastructure contractors in construction arbitrations
  • advising on liability and property insurance claims, particularly where indemnity/coverage is complex or disputed
  • appearing for Ngāti Te Ata in a significant appeal seeking redress for historical confiscations and Public Works Act takings of land.

Before joining the independent bar, Matthew practised at Gilbert Walker for over 16 years. His international experience includes acting for major corporates and financial institutions at leading firms in London (Clifford Chance, Davis Polk) and Washington, DC (Covington & Burling).


Matthew holds an LLB(Hons) and BA from the University of Auckland and an LLM from New York University, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar. He is admitted to practice in New Zealand, New York, and England & Wales.


Further details of Matthew's case history and other activities in the profession and wider community appear below.

Additional information

Case History

Company and commercial

  • Counsel for Sir Owen Glenn's investment company in multi-jurisdictional fraud proceedings involving US$127 million judgment. Successfully obtained interim anti-enforcement injunctions. Kea Investments Ltd v Wikeley Family Trust Limited (over a dozen High Court and Court of Appeal judgments)
  • Represented ASX-listed food production and supply company in a breach of warranty dispute arising from a sale of production assets (settled)
  • Lead trial and appellate counsel in the leading precedent on enforcement of real estate agents' commissions (Jones Lang LaSalle Ltd v Soft Tech JR Ltd [2022] NZCA 353 (commission claim on head lease of a major film studio site)
  • Lead trial and appellate counsel for a commercial design business defending ‘reasonable endeavours’ breach claims (Focus Construction v Spaceworks)
  • Represented a beverage processing business in an arbitration involving construction of limitation of liability clauses
  • Counsel in a leading appellate authority on construction of ‘reasonable endeavours’ and limitation clauses (i-Health v iSoft Ltd [2012] 1 NZLR 42)
  • Counsel for the defendant at the interim relief and trials in a claim involving use of trademarks in online advertising (InterCity v Nakedbus [2014] 3 NZLR 177)


Class actions / representative proceedings

  • Lead counsel successfully opposing representative (class action) orders in Alucobond product liability case (Body Corp 91535 v 3A Composites GmbH & Others [2023] NZCA 648; [2022] NZHC 2355)
  • Represented The a2 Milk Company in successfully staying a representative action under Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010 in favour of Australian class action (Whyte v The a2 Milk Company Ltd [2023] 2 NZLR 486)
  • Acted for former directors of Feltex in stage 2 of the $200 million action brought on behalf of more than 3,600 shareholder claimants (Houghton v Saunders; multiple hearings in the High Court and Court of Appeal leading to strike-out)

Insurance

  • Advising liability insurers on indemnity/policy coverage issues across full range of liability risks (professional, statutory, public/product , D&O)
  • Defending liability claims on instructions from insurers across complex, sensitive and high-stakes matters
  • Represented Tower in dozens of proceedings involving earthquake damage
  • ~precedent-setting cases on reinstatement of EQC cover and residential 'red zone' effects on private insurers' cover
  • ~widely-cited case on insurers’ good faith obligations in claims-handling (Young v Tower Insurance [2018] 1 NZLR 291)
  • ~8 multi-day trials plus appeals and other hearings involving technical expert evidence and policy issues affecting thousands of other claims
  • Acting for the captive insurer of a listed company seeking cover from its reinsurers in respect of a $100m+ product liability exposure
  • Representing a major construction company challenging the declinature of a $10 million liability policy claim arising from defective construction of apartments

Professional liability and discipline

  • Representing legal, accounting, engineering, educational and other professionals in civil claims and disciplinary proceedings
  • Led trial and appeal successfully defending solicitor against negligence claim (Antons Trawling v Dawson [2017] NZCA 237, [2016] NZHC 982)
  • Acting for national law firm defending significant civil liability claim
  • Acting for leading accounting and professional advisory firm on regulatory inquiries, professional conduct and liability-related matters
  • Acting for surveyor in the trial and appeal of a proceeding raising issues about the operation of the Cadastral Survey Act 2002 and highly technical expert evidence (Hojsgaard v LINZ [2019] 2 NZLR 864 (CA); [2018] 3 NZLR 99 (HC))
  • Acting for senior executive under investigation for possible cartel conduct


Construction and property

  • Acting for SkyCity in a high value claim in respect of delays to the New Zealand International Convention Centre project
  • Acting for Fletcher Building, Brian Perry Civil and Acciona in disputes arising from infrastructure project
  • Acting for unit owners challenging enforceability of land covenant that supplanted levy-raising regime of Unit Titles Act (Landmark Property Holdings Ltd v Shen Empire Ltd (2022) 22 NZCPR 947)
  • Acting for developers, building owners, and design and construction professionals bringing or facing building defects claims
  • Acting for apartment owners in trials and appeals involving unit title remediation schemes (eg St John's College Trust (2013) 14 NZCPR 56; Law v TAN Corp Trustee [2013] 1 NZLR 651 (CA))


Trusts and estates

  • Represented plaintiffs in 5-day trial successfully challenging defendants’ exercise of a power of appointment (Lim v Lim-Yip [2024] NZHC 3012)
  • Acting for beneficiary of high-value family trust in proceedings involving issues of paternity, claims under the Family Protection Act and alleged breach of trust
  • Acted for the trustees of Marlborough Electric Power Trust in the first cases testing the trust information provisions of the Trusts Act 2019 (Taylor v Inder)


Public and iwi interests

  • Lead counsel for Ngāti Te Ata in significant appeal involving claims arising from confiscations in the 1860s, Public Works Act takings in the 1900s, and alleged Crown undertakings (Minhinnick v Attorney-General and New Zealand Steel)
  • Acted for an iwi’s commercial arm in property development and leasing disputes and challenges to local government procurement processes
  • Represented Forest & Bird as intervener in judicial review proceedings concerning DOC's management of tahr on conservation land

Documents

Company and commercial

  • Counsel for Sir Owen Glenn's investment company in multi-jurisdictional fraud proceedings involving US$127 million judgment. Successfully obtained interim anti-enforcement injunctions. Kea Investments Ltd v Wikeley Family Trust Limited (over a dozen High Court and Court of Appeal judgments)
  • Represented ASX-listed food production and supply company in a breach of warranty dispute arising from a sale of production assets (settled)
  • Lead trial and appellate counsel in the leading precedent on enforcement of real estate agents' commissions (Jones Lang LaSalle Ltd v Soft Tech JR Ltd [2022] NZCA 353 (commission claim on head lease of a major film studio site)
  • Lead trial and appellate counsel for a commercial design business defending ‘reasonable endeavours’ breach claims (Focus Construction v Spaceworks)
  • Represented a beverage processing business in an arbitration involving construction of limitation of liability clauses
  • Counsel in a leading appellate authority on construction of ‘reasonable endeavours’ and limitation clauses (i-Health v iSoft Ltd [2012] 1 NZLR 42)
  • Counsel for the defendant at the interim relief and trials in a claim involving use of trademarks in online advertising (InterCity v Nakedbus [2014] 3 NZLR 177)


Class actions / representative proceedings

  • Lead counsel successfully opposing representative (class action) orders in Alucobond product liability case (Body Corp 91535 v 3A Composites GmbH & Others [2023] NZCA 648; [2022] NZHC 2355)
  • Represented The a2 Milk Company in successfully staying a representative action under Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010 in favour of Australian class action (Whyte v The a2 Milk Company Ltd [2023] 2 NZLR 486)
  • Acted for former directors of Feltex in stage 2 of the $200 million action brought on behalf of more than 3,600 shareholder claimants (Houghton v Saunders; multiple hearings in the High Court and Court of Appeal leading to strike-out)

Insurance

  • Advising liability insurers on indemnity/policy coverage issues across full range of liability risks (professional, statutory, public/product , D&O)
  • Defending liability claims on instructions from insurers across complex, sensitive and high-stakes matters
  • Represented Tower in dozens of proceedings involving earthquake damage
  • ~precedent-setting cases on reinstatement of EQC cover and residential 'red zone' effects on private insurers' cover
  • ~widely-cited case on insurers’ good faith obligations in claims-handling (Young v Tower Insurance [2018] 1 NZLR 291)
  • ~8 multi-day trials plus appeals and other hearings involving technical expert evidence and policy issues affecting thousands of other claims
  • Acting for the captive insurer of a listed company seeking cover from its reinsurers in respect of a $100m+ product liability exposure
  • Representing a major construction company challenging the declinature of a $10 million liability policy claim arising from defective construction of apartments

Professional liability and discipline

  • Representing legal, accounting, engineering, educational and other professionals in civil claims and disciplinary proceedings
  • Led trial and appeal successfully defending solicitor against negligence claim (Antons Trawling v Dawson [2017] NZCA 237, [2016] NZHC 982)
  • Acting for national law firm defending significant civil liability claim
  • Acting for leading accounting and professional advisory firm on regulatory inquiries, professional conduct and liability-related matters
  • Acting for surveyor in the trial and appeal of a proceeding raising issues about the operation of the Cadastral Survey Act 2002 and highly technical expert evidence (Hojsgaard v LINZ [2019] 2 NZLR 864 (CA); [2018] 3 NZLR 99 (HC))
  • Acting for senior executive under investigation for possible cartel conduct


Construction and property

  • Acting for SkyCity in a high value claim in respect of delays to the New Zealand International Convention Centre project
  • Acting for Fletcher Building, Brian Perry Civil and Acciona in disputes arising from infrastructure project
  • Acting for unit owners challenging enforceability of land covenant that supplanted levy-raising regime of Unit Titles Act (Landmark Property Holdings Ltd v Shen Empire Ltd (2022) 22 NZCPR 947)
  • Acting for developers, building owners, and design and construction professionals bringing or facing building defects claims
  • Acting for apartment owners in trials and appeals involving unit title remediation schemes (eg St John's College Trust (2013) 14 NZCPR 56; Law v TAN Corp Trustee [2013] 1 NZLR 651 (CA))


Trusts and estates

  • Represented plaintiffs in 5-day trial successfully challenging defendants’ exercise of a power of appointment (Lim v Lim-Yip [2024] NZHC 3012)
  • Acting for beneficiary of high-value family trust in proceedings involving issues of paternity, claims under the Family Protection Act and alleged breach of trust
  • Acted for the trustees of Marlborough Electric Power Trust in the first cases testing the trust information provisions of the Trusts Act 2019 (Taylor v Inder)


Public and iwi interests

  • Lead counsel for Ngāti Te Ata in significant appeal involving claims arising from confiscations in the 1860s, Public Works Act takings in the 1900s, and alleged Crown undertakings (Minhinnick v Attorney-General and New Zealand Steel)
  • Acted for an iwi’s commercial arm in property development and leasing disputes and challenges to local government procurement processes
  • Represented Forest & Bird as intervener in judicial review proceedings concerning DOC's management of tahr on conservation land

Professional Activities

Matthew serves as Deputy Convenor of a New Zealand Law Society Standards Committee. He has been a faculty member of the NZLS Litigation Skills Course since 2015 and a member of the NZLS Law Reform Committee since 2015. He sponsors Te Kuhunga, a scholarship programme for law students.


Beyond his practice, Matthew chairs the Board of Sacred Heart College and chairs the Board of a charitable trust that awards scholarships to young musicians.

Qualifications
  • LLM (New York University 1999) (Fulbright Scholar)
  • BA/LLB(Hons) (Auckland 1997)
  • Admissions:
  • ~New Zealand (1997)
  • ~New York (2000)
  • ~England & Wales (2004)

Matthew
Harris
mharris@shortlandchambers.co.nz
64 21 765 204
64 9 307 9821
Shortland Chambers