• Judicial review

• Trusts and estates

• Professional discipline

• Arbitrations, in particular rental arbitrations

• Negligence and tort law

Austin Forbes KC

Austin practises and has a wide experience in all areas of commercial and general civil litigation. He has appeared as counsel in numerous cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal and, as well, in the Privy Council and Supreme Court. He has also appeared as counsel and as the appointed arbitrator in many arbitrations, particularly rental arbitrations.

Austin was a co-winner of the Gold Medal in Law awarded by the Canterbury District Law Society for the top graduating law student in his year.  He was also awarded the Cleary Memorial Prize by the New Zealand Law Society for the lawyer admitted in his year in New Zealand who shows the most promise of service to and through the profession.

Austin is a former President of the New Zealand Law Society, the Canterbury District Law Society and chairman of the New Zealand Legal Association (Inc). He went to the Bar in 1990.  He was appointed a QC in 1996 and awarded a CNZM in 1997. Prior to this he was the senior litigation partner in Duncan Cotterill, Christchurch.

Austin has served on many committees, including the former Property Law and Equity Reform Committee and the NZLS’s Civil Litigation and Tribunals Committee. He is a former board member of Justitia Mutual Association (Inc), which operates a lawyers’ mutual professional indemnity insurance scheme. He co-presented NZLS seminars on Property and Real Estate Litigation in 1990 and Obtaining Pre-trial Information – mining at the coalface in 2005. He was previously the chair of the NZLS Rule of Law Committee for 16 years.

In his spare time Austin enjoys reading the High Court Rules.

Areas of practice – litigation and legal advice as to:

• Commercial law

• Company law, receiverships and liquidations

• Contract law

• Securities law

• Administrative and public law