Mike Ross Law Blog

The High Court ruled that directors of a finance company must have some degree of financial literacy as it upheld a two and half year prohi...

Described as polluting for profit, a landowner was fined nearly $175,000 after pouring industrial waste into a local river. This after sig...

Local councils bear no responsibility for leaky homes when developers choose to use independent building certifiers rather than paying for a...

Orthopaedic surgeons use of family trusts to transfer profits to family members has been ruled tax avoidance by the Court of Appeal. By ex...

Having a work pattern of contract staff doing line maintenance on aircraft in conjunction with employees saved Air Nelson from allegations o...

New Zealand rules allowing insurance claims directly against the policy when the insured is insolvent cannot be used where the insolvent co...

Blue Chip loan agreements entered into by Mr & Mrs Bartles, a retired Whangarei couple, have been ruled oppressive by the Court of Appea...

The shortcut summary judgment procedure used to enforce fixed sum contracts cannot be used for property transactions where the vendor is in ...

An Australian manager of the Fernz Group has been removed by the Supreme Court from price-fixing litigation brought by the Commerce Commissi...

Further fallout from the Digi-Tech tax scheme has left a financier high and dry. A financier could not use a power of attorney clause in m...

While the ship captain’s behaviour was described as “outrageous”, insurers of the Tasman Pioneer were held not liable for cargo losses follo...

Where Council inspectors have failed to pick up deficiencies during a building’s construction, a Council is liable for the cost of repair ev...

Council liability for leaky homes extends beyond standalone dwellings to include multi-unit apartments. Attempts by North Shore City to...

Having a reputation for good business judgment and integrity means liability follows for honest but misleading statements made without quali...

Widely viewed as a retail park with airport attached, Auckland International Airport expansion has been protected by a Court of Appeal rulin...

With shades of goldminers racing to be first to stake a claim, the Court of Appeal has ruled the first to file a complete application for w...

For 800 investors bringing a class action following complaints about the 2004 Feltex float, it is going to be a long haul before they see an...

Using legal concepts of relational good faith should be to the fore in dealing with historical Treaty grievances, suggests the Court of Appe...

With the wisdom of Solomon, the courts have split a family trust in two to accommodate a marriage split and to settle disputes between a for...

Christchurch retirement village residents found their rights of occupation were worthless when the owner failed to properly bring them unde...

The Kiwi share created when Telecom was privatised is annoying Telecom’s competitors. They are obliged to contribute each year to Telecom’...

Residents of a Petone retirement village failed in their attempt to escape a 99 year service agreement. A charge registered against their ...

Port companies are permitted to shelter under the statutory liability limits contained in transport legislation even when cargo is damaged b...

Nine structured finance transactions involving funds totalling $4.36 billion engineered by Westpac Bank have been struck down by the High Co...

Pharmaceutical companies are given special exemptions from the general provisions of anti-trust law when dealing with Pharmac. The Commerc...