Taylor Burgess
Taylor is a thoughtful, considered advocate. She brings order to the most ambitious proceedings and excels at finding a simple story in dense facts. She is an unflappable litigator and advisor with expertise in consumer law, medical law and human rights.
Prior to joining the bar, Taylor was a legal director for a specialist class actions firm in London. She has played a central role in some of the landmark consumer claims brought in English courts in recent years, including the “Dieselgate” NOx emissions litigation and transvaginal mesh claims against NHS trusts and manufacturer defendants.
Taylor has also worked on significant public law and human rights matters. She led a judicial review of the United Kingdom’s charging policy for hotel quarantine during COVID-19 and advised New Zealand government departments while at the Crown Law Office.
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Commercial and consumer law
“Dieselgate” class action by 1.6 million claimants against major car manufacturers, including BMW, Fiat, Suzuki, Toyota and Mazda, accused of cheating NOx emissions limits in the UK and EU.
Class action by more than 1,500 farmers arising out of alleged cartel in the Brazilian orange juice export market in Brazil. Novel claims enforcing Brazilian competition law in English court; raised complex conflict of law points.
Health and medical law
Class actions against NHS trusts and major pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson and Bayer, for transvaginal mesh and the Essure contraceptive device.
Class action against manufacturers and UK regulator for alleged birth defects from historical hormone pregnancy tests.
Declaratory judgment regarding use of the title “Dr” by unregistered persons providing health services under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. Junior counsel for the Ministry of Health.
Public law, judicial review
Judicial review of the United Kingdom’s charging policy for COVID-19 hotel quarantine. Secured government U-turn to introduce fee waivers for people facing financial hardship.
Various judicial review claims and appeals on behalf of Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development as junior counsel.
Human rights
Appeal of strike-out decision in tort claims against NZ Defence Force and co-respondent Ministry of Defence (UK) raising scope of state immunity for alleged human rights violations by members of the armed forces. Junior counsel for NZ Defence Force.
Advocacy challenging the use of solitary confinement for prisoners with mental health issues in Connecticut. Culminated in the closure of Connecticut’s “Supermax” prison following the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Member of the Yale Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic working alongside the American Civil Liberties Union.
Human rights report on provision of long-acting reversible contraception in the UK in partnership with British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Decolonising Contraception and Lancaster University.
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“Judicial innovation and the family” in Sam Bookman and others (eds) Pragmatism, Principle and Power in Common Law Constitutional Systems: Essays in Honour of Bruce Harris (Intersentia, Cambridge, 2022).
“The hidden politics of long-acting reversible contraception” (2020) 13 Harvard Women’s Policy Journal 26.
“Reconstructing state intervention in pregnancy to empower New Zealand women” (2019) 31.1 Yale Journal of Law & Feminism 167.
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LLM, Yale
Attended on a New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin Scholarship
BA/LLB(Hons), University of Auckland
Auckland District Law Society Prize for top graduating law student
