Rachel Pinny

Written By Phil Houghton

Rachel is an experienced litigator with over 20 years’ experience in general civil and commercial litigation.

Rachel has acted for clients in a wide range of general commercial and regulatory matters. She has particular expertise in complex contractual disputes, finance litigation and insolvency and regularly acts for company directors, creditors, liquidators and receivers in some of New Zealand’s most complex insolvencies. Rachel is recognised by Doyle’s Guide and Chambers & Partners as a leading restructuring and insolvency barrister.

She also regularly advises clients on consumer law, regulatory investigations and Coronial inquiries and inquests. 

Rachel has also been an Adjunct Lecturer for the Law Faculty at Victoria University and is on the Board of RITANZ. Rachel was admitted in 2003 and joined the independent bar in 2018, after eight years as a Senior Associate at Bell Gully.

  • General commercial litigation

    • Acting for Sir Mark Dunajtschik in complex debt recovery proceedings. (Dunajtschik v Garnham [2022] NZHC 267)

    • Acting for kaumātua and other iwi members of Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika in litigation in the Māori Land Court and the High Court, seeking that the Māori Land Court exercise its supervisory jurisdiction to investigate voting practices of a settlement trust and recovery of land at Shelly Bay that was sold to a developer. (Mau Whenua Incorporated v Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust [2020] 419 Aotea MB 113; Mau Whenua Incorporated v Shelly Bay Investments Limited (2019) 20 NZCPR 923, [2019] NZHC 3222) 

    • Acting for a major bank in successfully obtaining an order striking out proceedings brought by a former customer against it seeking damages of in excess of $80 million. (Thurston v ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited [2017] NZHC 3269) 

    • Advising and acting for clients in a wide range of general commercial matters including contractual disputes, complex debt recovery matters, fraud and trust disputes. 

    Insolvency

    • Acting for PwC as court-appointed receivers and then liquidators of a company, including successfully opposing an application to review the liquidators’ decision to admit a claim in the liquidation and successfully obtaining sale orders where a sale of the property was opposed by the mortgagee. (Vance v Vey [2022] NZHC 75, Fisk v Turvey [2022] NZHC 2462). 

    • Acting for PwC as the receivers, and subsequently liquidators of Ross Asset group of companies and related companies on a wide range of matters since November 2012. Ross Asset Management was operating the largest known Ponzi scheme in New Zealand's history. This included appearing as junior counsel in a precedent setting case against a former investor in order to claw back fictitious profits paid to him and, following a successful outcome in that case, advising the liquidators on over 200 clawback claims against other former investors in Ross Asset Management. Appearing as junior counsel in an application by the liquidators to the High Court for directions on a number of novel and complex issues arising in the context of distributing the assets in the liquidation. (Fisk v McIntosh [2015] NZHC 1403; (2015) 11 NZCLC 98-033; Re Fisk [2018] NZHC 2007) 

    • Acting for RITANZ as intervenor in a landmark case addressing whether a part purchaser of goods could have an equitable lien over “their” goods in an insolvency (Francis v Gross (Podular Housing) [2024] 3 NZLR 527)

    • Appearing as junior counsel for the receivers of Ebert Construction Limited (in receivership and liquidation) in a landmark case addressing how the new retentions regime under the Construction Contracts Act 2002 applied in an insolvency. (Bennett v Ebert Construction Limited (in rec and liq) [2018] NZHC 2934) 

    • Acting for clients on numerous insolvency related matters including statutory demands, voidable transactions, priority disputes and claims against directors. 

    Judicial Review

    • Junior counsel for Ngāti Paoa Trust Board in High Court proceedings challenging the decision to grant resource consent for the Kennedy Point marina on Waiheke Island. (Ngati Paoa Trust Board v Auckland Council [2024] NZCA 481 ) 

    • Junior counsel for Wellington International Airport Limited in High Court litigation with Land Information New Zealand over land in Miramar, required for Airport expansion. 

    Regulatory matters and inquiries

    • Advising a bank in a Commerce Commission investigation into whether there had been consumer credit disclosure breaches.

    • Board Member, Restructuring, Insolvency and Turnaround Association of New Zealand (RITANZ) 2022 to present

    • Adjunct lecturer, Civil Procedure, Victoria University of Wellington (2019 and 2022) 

    • Member, New Zealand Bar Association 

    • August 2018 to present – Barrister, Thorndon Chambers 

    • February 2011 to August 2018 - Senior Associate, Bell Gully 

    • November 2007 to October 2010 - Dundas & Wilson CS LLP (now CMS Scotland), Edinburgh. 

    • January 2003 to June 2007 - Bell Gully, Wellington.

    • Co-author and presenter NZLS Seminar: Business Insolvency Update (2019)

    • Author and presenter: NZLS Construction Law Intensive: Insolvency in the Construction Sector (2019)

    • Co-author and presenter NZLS Seminar: Creditors Remedies (2013)

    • 2002: LLB (Hons – First Class) / BA (Criminology) Victoria University of Wellington.

Phil Houghton http://www.houghtoncreative.co.nz
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