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John is a commercial barrister with over 20 years experience in major law firms in New Zealand, London and Hong Kong.

Skilled and Experienced

John's expertise extends to providing strategic advice, drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, advising on financing, insurance, development, procurement and compliance issues for individuals, small to major corporates, utility providers, government agencies and local authorities. (See article on Transparency and Good Governance.)

As a commercial lawyer, John provides independent advice to senior managers, chief executives and to boards. This will typically involve working within client teams and with existing legal advisers to achieve the best outcomes for clients.

Recent projects include advising the Northland Regional Council and Whangarei District Council on the development of the Northland Events Centre for the Rugby World Cup in 2011, and advising Watercare Services Limited on the undergrounding of the Hobson Bay Sewer using 3.7 metre earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine.

Independent

As a commercial barister, John is an independent adviser, unencumbered by the conflicts of interest and business considerations which typically come with using large law firms.

This makes John ideally placed for peer reviewing and probity auditing major projects.

For any high value contract there is an ideal allocation of risk which increases the prospect of a profitable relationship for all parties. A poor procurement strategy inevitably distorts project outcomes at a significant cost. Quality peer reviewing increases the potential for successful project outcomes.

John's infrastructure development and precurement experience gives him particular skills to peer review complex commercial transactions.

Public sector procurement is a substantial proportion of economic activity (running at approximately 40% of gross domestic product most years). Maintaining the integrity of public procurement processes through the appointment of an independent probity auditor has become accepted as best practice.

• procurement plans and processes
• all tender communications
• tender evaluations
• contract awards

John can also assist with contract administration, as the need arises.

Cost Effective

Practising at the bar also enables John to provide focused advice without the cost structure which goes hand in hand with using a senior commercial partner from a large firm.

Costing can be agreed on a project by project basis so that there are no suprises. John is committed to providing value to clients, rather than simply recovering time and overhead.