Faculty of Law
Private and Commercial Law
The Faculty of Law, based as it is in New Zealand’s largest commercial centre, has long had private law and commercial law as one of its strengths.
We offer an LLM degree with a specialisation in Commercial Law, and a wide range of electives in that degree, and in the LLB and LLB(Hons) degrees. The courses in the LLM are taught by a combination of the Faculty’s permanent staff, staff of the Department of Commercial Law in the Faculty of Business and Economics, distinguished overseas academics, and senior law practitioners. Recent and current private law and commercial law courses are listed below. Links to the details of the teaching and research interests of the faculty’s permanent staff can also be found below.
The faculty is home to the Research Centre for Business Law. The centre is directed by Professor Rick Bigwood, and its academic membership is made up of staff from the Faculty of Law, and the Department of Commercial Law. The centre hosts conferences, seminars, and in-firm presentations by visiting academics, and produces the New Zealand Business Law Quarterly. It will also attempt to match external research projects to expertise here and within the Department of Commercial Law.
The following members of staff conduct teaching or research in the area of Private and Commercial Law:
| Name | Field of research |
|---|---|
| Berryman, Jeffrey | The law of remedies with particular interest in equitable remedies, Contract law, Comparative private law, Law of Restitution, Aspects of civil procedure |
| Bigwood, Rick | Contract law |
| Devonshire, Peter | Equity, remedies, mortgage law and civil procedure |
| Grinlinton, David | Land law, Commercial property including leases, Construction law, Mining & energy development. |
| Hare, Chris | Commercial Law (including Banking Law, Transnational Commercial Law and International Trade and Finance Law), Company and Insolvency Law, Conflict of Laws, Law of Obligations |
| Kawharu, Amokura | International commercial arbitration, Investment arbitration, International economic regulation, International disputes settlement |
| Manning, Joanna | Health Care law, Torts and accident compensation |
| Myburgh, Paul | Maritime Law, International Sales, International Trade Finance, International Carriage of Goods, Private International Law, Contract Law |
| Penk, Stephen | Torts, Privacy, Remedies, Vicarious Liability |
| Schoeman, Elsabe | Jurisdiction in cross-border litigation, Choice of law, International contracts, International torts, Comparative conflicts, Conflicts justice |
| Tobin, Rosemary | Defamation, Privacy, Accident Compensation, Tort, Defective building Liability, Limitation Issues |
| Watts, Peter | Agency Law, Company Law, Law of Restitution |
