Profile
Seb specialises in advocacy and litigation, including arbitration and mediation.
Seb was Benchmark Litigation’s Lawyer of the Year in 2019. He is described in the Legal 500 2020 as giving "very high-quality advice that is always sound and sensible", and in the Legal 500 2019 as a “great strategist” with a “clear understanding of what is at the heart of each issue”. He is recommended as a litigator and insolvency lawyer in the Legal 500 2017 and 2018, AsiaLaw 2017 and Doyle's Insolvency Guide 2016, 2017 and 2018. He is admitted in both England and New Zealand, and has an LLM in competition law from Durham University.
Seb has appeared at all levels of the New Zealand courts. He regularly appears in the High Court and Court of Appeal.
"Seb Bisley gives very high-quality advice that is always sound and sensible."
Legal 500
"Pleasant to deal with and very approachable."
Legal 500
“A great strategist - extremely thorough, with a clear understanding of what is at the heart of each issue.”
Legal 500
- Member of RITANZ
Work highlights
Representing Accident Compensation Corporation
in an application for judicial review (King v Accident Compensation Corporation [2019] NZHC 1751)
Acting for local councils
in judicial reviews of their powers of compulsory acquisition under the Local Government Act 2002, and to approve plan changes under the Resource Management Act 1993. (Sheffield Properties Ltd v Kapiti Coast District Council [2018] NZHC 3290; Commercial Properties Ltd v Hutt City Council [2019] NZHC 2243)
Acting for a group of creditors
in a case concerning novel issues of class construction under the Companies Act, appealed to the Supreme Court. (Advicewise People Ltd & Ors v Trends Publishing Ltd [2016] NZHC 2119 (High Court), [2017] NZCA 365 (Court of Appeal), [2018] NZSC 54 (Supreme Court))
Acting for Contact Energy
in an application for declarations as to the effect of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 on electricity (Contact Energy Ltd v Moreau [2018] NZHC 2884)
Applying for orders to transfer land
under the Property Law Act 2007 (Clarke v McAlister [2018] NZHC 1749)
Acting for Contact Energy
in complex intellectual property claim (Siemens (NZ) Ltd v General Electric International Inc & Contact Energy Ltd)
Alternate contacts
Scott Barker
Partner, Wellington
Scott specialises in litigation and insolvency law. He advises both private and public sector clients.…
- DDI +64 4 498 7349
- M +64 21 822 929
Peter Niven
Special Counsel, Wellington
Peter specialises in litigation, insolvency and credit recovery. He advises both private and public sector clients on a broad range…
- DDI +64 4 462 0434
- M +64 21 827 208
Oliver Gascoigne
Senior Associate, Wellington
Oliver specialises in litigation and dispute resolution. He has particular expertise in commercial, banking and finance…
- DDI +64 4 462 0938
- M +64 27 388 9788