Luke Sizer

Contact

Auckland office
DDI +64 9 363 1036
M +64 27 297 0374

Profile

Luke specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration. He regularly acts on matters involving complex corporate fraud, insolvency, judicial review, regulatory issues, contractual disputes, negligence, and company disputes. Luke has experience in a range of tribunals and courts, including the District Court, High Court, and Court of Appeal, on both substantive and interlocutory matters, including applications for urgent and interim relief.

Luke has a BA/LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland and an LLM from Columbia University in the City of New York, where he graduated as a James Kent Scholar.

He has produced a range of peer-reviewed publications on various topics including contractual matters, public and constitutional law, judicial review, negligence, corporate fraud, and regulatory issues.

Clients describe Luke as "phenomenally smart" with an ability to "distil large amounts of complex information" and a "really good communicator" who provides "really good guidance"

Thomson Reuters Stand-Out Lawyers

"Luke is a rising star in the fraud and insolvency disputes field. Luke’s calm and considered approach and extensive technical knowledge makes it a pleasure to work with him"

Partner of leading Advisory and Restructuring firm

"Luke has a unique ability to be fully across the details of matters while maintaining a clear sense of the desired strategic outcomes – as a client, this gives me confidence both that he fully understands what we are trying to achieve, and that all relevant information has been considered in developing a pathway that will lead to the best potential outcome"

General Counsel of a major New Zealand company

James Kent Scholar (Columbia University in the City of New York)
Dean of Law’s Award of Academic Excellence (University of Auckland)

Experience

Sector / Expertise

Work highlights

Acting for Zespri Group

in the High Court and Court of Appeal to obtain freezing orders and subsequently a $12m judgment for breaches of the Plant Variety Rights Act 1987 and contractual obligations, involving novel issues of user-damages, extra-territoriality, and jurisdiction, and successfully opposing an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court (Gao v Zespri Group Ltd [2021] NZCCLR 15, [2021] NZCA 442; [2022] NZSC 13)

Acting for Eleonora Sport

the United Kingdom former owner of English Premier League team Leeds United, to pursue recovery of approximately ₤5.5m from, and obtain liquidation orders of, a New Zealand based non-bank deposit taker, in a case concerning previously untested Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 issues (Arjang v NF Global Ltd [2021] NZHC 395)

Acting for a BVI company

in the High Court and Court of Appeal to obtain and sustain mirror freezing orders in aid of proceedings in Singapore over cryptocurrency and other assets, for which cryptocurrency was posted as security for the undertaking in damages (MB Technology Ltd v Ecomi Technology Pte Ltd [2020] NZHC 2883)

Acting on various Serious Fraud Office matters

including a significant four-year investigation involving cross-border issues

Acting for Zespri International

to dispose of $25m claims brought against it by its former importer and distributor in the People’s Republic of China in connection with the plaintiffs' customs duty and VAT fraud (Shanghai Neuhof Trade Company Ltd v Zespri International Ltd [2019] NZHC 3479)

Acting for various Banks

liquidators, administrators, receivers, and other institutions to enforce guarantees and security, realise assets, obtain freezing orders, proprietary injunctions, inspection and search orders, and other interim relief, and to obtain liquidation and bankruptcy orders

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