Seb Bisley
Before joining the independent bar, Seb was a senior litigation partner at Buddle Findlay. He is admitted in both England and New Zealand, and has appeared at all levels of the New Zealand court system. He frequently appears and advises in relation to mediations and arbitrations.
Seb has been listed in leading directories both before and after joining the independent bar. He was Benchmark Litigation’s New Zealand Lawyer of the Year in 2019, was rated as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation and as a Leading Individual by the Legal 500, and is listed as a leading barrister by Doyles Guide and by Chambers & Partners.
His clients describe him as giving "very high-quality advice that is always sound and sensible", as a “great strategist” with a “clear understanding of what is at the heart of each issue”, and as “an excellent strategic thinker and excellent communicator” who is “a pleasure to deal with” and “great on his feet”.
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A selection of recent publicly available cases includes:
Construction
Acting for the Department of Corrections in a major construction dispute with insolvency issues: see McVeigh & Ors v Department of Corrections [2020] NZHC 1018; Department of Corrections v Decmil Construction NZ Ltd and Anor [2020] NZHC 2976.
Acting for a major infrastructure owner in a construction arbitration involving delay claims arising out of COVID-19.
Acting for a listed company in a construction dispute concerning a mixed construction / ICT project.
Other construction proceedings involving NZS:3910, NZS:3916 and other standard construction contracts.
Commercial / insolvency
Zhao v KBS Capital Ltd [2025] NZHC 1129 (insolvency proceedings relating to a large residential development).
Southern Farms NZ Ltd v New Zealand Rural Land Investments GP Ltd [2026] NZHC 620 (proceedings seeking reinstatement of a farm lease)
Storageone Metro Ltd v Tempja [2025] NZHC 1025 (claim relating to lease termination)
Ashdale Levin Ltd v Horowhenua District Council [2022] NZHC 498 (contribution claim against local council)
Flashoff & Ors v New Zealand Technology Group Hawkes Bay Ltd [2020] NZEmpC 222 (injunctions relating to business acquisition)
Advicewise People Ltd & Ors v Trends Publishing Ltd [2016] NZHC 2119 (High Court), [2017] NZCA 365 (Court of Appeal), [2018] NZSC 54 (Supreme Court) (acting for a group of creditors in a case concerning novel issues of class construction under the Companies Act)
Clarke v McAlister [2018] NZHC 1749 (orders to transfer land under the Property Law Act 2007)
Crummer Trustees No 83 Ltd v Bank of New Zealand & Ors [2015] NZHC 2165 (breach of mandate claim).
Leeds & Wood v Richards & Anor [2016] NZHC 1191; [2016] NZHC 2314 (recovery of assets in New Zealand)
Rudyard Holdings Ltd v Kiwibank Ltd [2014] NZHC 1253 (claim under a construction loan)
Administrative law
New Zealand Independent Community Pharmacy Group v Te Whatu Ora & Ors [2023] NZHC 1486; [2025] NZAR 481 (CA); [2025] NZSC 192 (judicial review of contracting decisions)
New Zealand Animal Law Association v Attorney General & Ors [2020] NZHC 3009; New Zealand Animal Law Association v Attorney General & Ors [2021] NZHC 2945; New Zealand Animal Law Association v Attorney General & Ors [2022] NZHC 1844 (reviews of regulatory powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006)
Kennedy v Employment Relations Authority [2022] NZCA 12 (judicial review of Employment Court)
Norman v Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority [2021] NZHC 201 (interim injunction in support of judicial review under Reserves Act 1977)
Commercial Properties Ltd v Hutt City Council [2019] NZHC 2243 (review of powers of compulsory acquisition)
King v Accident Compensation Corporation [2019] NZHC 1751 (judicial review of Accident Compensation Corporation)
Sheffield Properties Ltd v Kapiti Coast District Council [2018] NZHC 3290 (review of approval of plan changes)
Contact Energy Ltd v Moreau [2018] NZHC 2884 (application for declarations as to the effect of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 on electricity)
New Zealand Māori Council & Ors v Foulkes & Ors [2014] NZHC 1777 (landmark judgment on the intersection between Treaty and trust law)
Regulatory
Advising regulators on investigations and investigatory powers
Acting for defendants in regulatory prosecutions under the Fair Trading Act 1986 (eg Commerce Commission v Contact Energy [2020] NZDC 4415; Commerce Commission v Strandbags Proprietary Ltd [2022] NZDC 23352)
Acting for defendants in prosecutions under the Overseas Investment Act 2005 (Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand v West Drury Holding Ltd [2021] NZHC 704; Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand v Clevedon-Kawakawa Road Ltd [2021] NZHC 1831)
Medico-legal
Numerous complex ACC appeals: for example, Shand v Accident Compensation Corporation [2020] NZHC 2743; Goh v Accident Compensation Corporation [2021] NZHC 3372; TN v Accident Compensation Corporation [2022] NZHC 1280 and [2023] NZCA 664); Carr v Accident Compensation Commission [2022] NZHC 2530; Ross v Accident Compensation Corporation [2023] NZHC 1405; Board of Trustees of Melville High School v CL [2022] NZCA 407 and [2023] NZEmpC 221; ACC v D [2025] 3 NZLR 39.
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Member, Law Reform Committee
Chair, Brancepeth Preservation Trust
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Seb has given a number of seminars, in particular on insolvency, contract law and ICT disputes.
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LLM (Dist), Durham University
LLB (Hons), Victoria University of Wellington / Te Herenga Waka
BA, Victoria University of Wellington / Te Herenga Waka
