Phil Creagh

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Dispute Resolution and Civil Litigation; Corporate and Commercial Advice; Mining and Resources and Restructuring and Insolvency

AWARDS

• Excellence Awardee for the New Zealand Law Awards 2022 in category: Insolvency and Restructuring deal of the Year
• Highly Recommended Real Estate and Construction practitioner in New Zealand, 2003/04 edition of Global Counsel 3000

QUALIFICATIONS

• BSc University of Auckland 1977.
• LLB University of Auckland 1981
• Admitted to practice in New Zealand 1981.

SELECTED REPRESENTATIONS

• A dairy industry balance sheet restructuring involving a debt compromise arrangement.
• Hudson Bay Holdings Limited v Waitakere Properties (High Court). A successful action compelling performance of a put option to purchase property.
• The Clayton v Clayton series of cases culminating with Clayton v Clayton [2016] NZSC 29, a leading NZ trust law case in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
• Sturgess and Ors. v Dunphy and Ors [2014] NZCA 266 and Jet Trustees v Dunphy and Ors. [2014] NZSC 140. This is the series of Greymouth Petroleum cases up to the Court of Appeal and is a leading appellate level minority shareholder oppression case.
• Zespri international Limited v Yu, an Employment Court case with significant ramifications for a former Zespri employee who was imprisoned in China.
• A series of Kim Dotcom extradition and related cases. Phil was instructing solicitor and closely involved on numerous Dotcom litigation matters, including the final Supreme Court extradition hearing.
• Gulf Harbour Marina Limited & Ors. v Auckland Council & Minister of Conservation CIV-2010-404-003283. This was the marina seabed licence fees case where Phil acted for a group of marinas in successfully challenging Council’s entitlement to charge seabed licence fees.
• Kawerau Village Holdings Limited and Anr v Ho Kok Sun and Ors. [2017] NZSC 150. This was the long running Kawerau Falls Station case which Phil initiated and successfully ran through to the Supreme Court for a large group of offshore investors.
• Trends Publishing International Limited v Advicewise People Limited & Ors [2018] NZSC 62. A Supreme Court appeal against the striking down of a creditor compromise arrangement, and which has clarified an important aspect of creditor law relating to the recognition of classes of creditors.
• Trends Publishing International Limited v Callaghan Innovation [2019] NZHC 907, a High Court action centring on the terms of Callaghan’s funding grant to Trends, and Trends’ compliance or otherwise with those terms.