I advise and represent clients involved in civil disputes and criminal prosecutions.
Civil Dispute Resolution
This typically involves arguments about liability, or whether something is owed to someone. The arguments can be to do with contracts, business arrangements, mistakes, failures, damage to property or reputation, or some other kind of wrong that is not a crime. These are ‘civil matters’ and they can be dealt with by ‘civil litigation’ or an alternative.
Civil disputes can be settled during negotiations or mediation, or determined by arbitration or other process that does not involve the courts. These alternative dispute resolution processes can resolve conflicts better, cheaper and quicker than the courts can in some circumstances.
Criminal Prosecutions
The way that the justice system deals with crimes is quite different to how it deals with civil disputes. There are different procedures, rights and evidential standards. This means that crimes are approached differently and handled in a different way.
I have prosecuted on behalf of ACC, the Crown, the Department of Corrections, the New Zealand Police and WorkSafe. As a Crown Prosecutor I have dealt with fraud charges taken over from the Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Social Development.