Barrister · Commercial Litigation · Arbitration
Eugene St John
About
Eugene is a commercial litigator across a broad range of disputes, with a strong focus on construction and arbitration.
He acts for principals, contractors, subcontractors and lenders across the full range of construction disputes, nationally and internationally.
Eugene also litigates across a broad commercial field, including intellectual property, company and insolvency, restraint of trade, property, leases and estates.
Eugene is a Fellow of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London) and a Fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration.
Eugene also litigates across a broad commercial field, including intellectual property, company and insolvency, restraint of trade, property, leases and estates.
Eugene is a Fellow of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London) and a Fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
• Shareholder & company disputes
• Restrictive covenants
• Professional liability
• Franchise & lease disputes
• Testamentary claims
• Trust Law
• Urgent remedies
• Body corporate disputes
• Disciplinary tribunals
• Judicial review
Examples of work
• Construction claims
Murphys Park Development LP v Green City Developments Ltd
[2024] NZHC 3572; [2026] NZCA 220
A large property development dispute over contractual obligations for enabling works and the interpretation of a “reasonable commercial endeavours” clause. It involved analysis of the causes of delay to the subdivision, land-swap arrangements, and disputes over earthworks and roading, with extensive expert evidence on delay and civil engineering.
• Intellectual property
Technopak Ltd v Monzeal
[2024] NZHC 1420
Copyright infringement claims in respect of industrial automated machinery for the handling and conveying of powdered products in the dairy, infant nutrition and pharmaceutical industries. Extensive complex technical and expert evidence relating to CAD modelling and originality of designs.
Gao v Zespri Group Ltd
[2022] 2 NZLR 219; [2021] NZCA 442
Damages for the sale of proprietary kiwifruit budwood for cultivation in China. Calculation of “user” damages for breach of the Plant Variety Rights Act 1987 and the application of a domestic statute to conduct overseas, with translated and foreign expert evidence, freezing orders and extraterritorial issues.
• Director liability — Fair Trading Act
Dempsey Wood Civil Ltd v Gapes
[2021] NZHC 2362; [2022] NZCA 435
A contractor’s claim against a company director for insolvent trading and breach of the Fair Trading Act 1986, concerning representations made about the company’s financial position and its ability to pay creditors. It was the first case in which the Fair Trading Act 1986 had been used against a director.
• Vendor and purchaser
Property Sales v Hawken Lane Development LP
[2022] NZHC 403; [2022] NZCA 643
Sale and purchase off the plans of sections by a land development company seeking to on-sell them for profit. Claims concerning delay, breaches of contract and rights of cancellation. An award of damages for the wrongful lodgement of caveats against title.
Masterton Investments Ltd v Watson
[2022] NZHC 3113; (2022) 23 NZCPR 856; [2023] NZCA 507
Sale and purchase of commercial property. Default and cancellation. Claims of waiver of cancellation rights, estoppel and failure to mitigate.
Love v Auburn Apartments Ltd (in rec and in liq)
[2012] NZCA 34
Interpretation of special conditions in a sale and purchase contract relating to the layout of apartments purchased off the plans. Whether a special condition overrode clauses entitling the vendor to amend the construction details.
• Restrictive covenants
Johns v Wu
[2019] NZHC 12
Review of a restrictive covenant restricting construction on the property to a single dwelling. Interpretation of a minimum build-cost clause using a method of calculation no longer in use. Judicial review of the council’s consent decision.
• Restraint of trade
Gordon v Christensen
[2022] NZCA 130
Examination of an extensive restraint of trade contained in an agreement for the sale and purchase of a business. Contract interpretation and expert evidence.
• Insolvency
Taylor v Official Assignee
[2011] NZCA 630
Whether dispositions to a family trust were voidable under the Property Law Act 1952 and the Insolvency Act 1967. Whether the dispositions were made deliberately to defeat Inland Revenue. Relevance of the reasons for bankruptcy.
• Leases
Mandic v The Cornwall Park Trust Board (Inc)
[2011] NZSC 135
Leasehold interests and contract interpretation. Supreme Court appeal by Cornwall Park leaseholders concerning the application of the rent-review provisions on renewal of a perpetual ground lease granted by the Cornwall Park Trust Board.
• Human rights
Haupini v SRCC Holdings Ltd
[2013] NZHRRT 23
Landmark case before the Human Rights Review Tribunal on whether an employer may direct an employee to cover a tattoo, including ta moko. Statutory interpretation. Review of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and obligations under the United Nations Charter.
Xi v Body Corporate 198693
[2023] NZHRRT 38
A discrimination claim before the Human Rights Review Tribunal alleging discrimination by the body corporate against a unit owner on the grounds of race and political beliefs.
• Estate claims
Grbavac v Vujcich
[2020] NZHC 1953
Recall of probate of a codicil for want of testamentary capacity. The codicil removed a grandnephew as beneficiary of an inheritance of more than $1 million and redirected the inheritance to another branch of the family. Competing expert medical evidence concerning testamentary capacity, advanced age and cultural norms.
Seaglass Holdings Ltd v Giacon
[2023] NZHC 3552
Deceased estate. Claims by the estate seeking repayment of advances, with limitation defences. A declaration concerning an option to purchase property granted by the testator. Examination of the actions of the trustees.
• Arbitration examples
Parties confidential
Six-week arbitration over a large infrastructure project, with claims of extensions of time, liquidated damages, expert delay analysis and prolongation claims.
Arbitration over claims arising from a motorway extension on State Highway 1, with multiple variation claims and unlawful termination. Use of the variation procedures under the contract to remove work from the contractor.
Arbitration over claims arising from the construction of Auckland’s light rail in the western corridor, and the interpretation of special conditions in a measure-and-value contract under NZS 3910:2013.
• Expert determination
Parties confidential
Determination under the compulsory dispute provisions of a sale and purchase agreement for the purchase of a business, on the accuracy of warranties and a right to a reduction in the settlement price.
Determination in Sydney in a dispute between New Zealand litigants and their NSW litigation funder.
• Adjudication
Parties confidential
Adjudication is a confidential process. Since the introduction of the Construction Contracts Act 2002, Eugene has led adjudication cases across commercial, industrial and residential contracts.
He has argued leading cases in the High Court on the interpretation of the Act, has written academically on the subject, and is a member of the Adjudication Society (UK).
Appointments & recognition
Eugene holds a Masters degree with Honours from Auckland University. He is a long-term member of the New Zealand Law Society litigation skills programme, a convenor of a NZLS standards committee, a long-term ADLS committee member and a member of the Friends Panel.
He is a former member of the Judicial Control Authority for racing.
He is a former member of the Judicial Control Authority for racing.
2010
Fellow, New Zealand Arbitrators and Mediators Institute
2017
Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London)
2022
Fellow, Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA)
2022
Appointed by ACICA to its international panel of arbitrators
Contact
Email
Telephone
Chambers
O’Connell Chambers
Level 5, 3–13 Shortland Street
Auckland City 1143, New Zealand
Level 5, 3–13 Shortland Street
Auckland City 1143, New Zealand
Postal
PO Box 105 270
Auckland City 1143
New Zealand
Auckland City 1143
New Zealand