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Ben has over 20 years of experience in all areas of family law including international work. He is equally able in diverse cases from high net worth relationship property cases to care and contact disputes about children. Ben is friendly and approachable.
In 2022 Ben completed the Advanced International Advocacy Course at Keble College, Oxford. The course is the most demanding and intensive of any advocacy course in the UK. Ben is a qualified solicitor advocate in England meaning he can appear at all court levels in England and Wales.
Ben is a specialist court lawyer.
The instruction of Ben on a case is only through a solicitor (a lawyer in a law firm).
The solicitor will be responsible for the day to day running of a file. This also includes providing advice, drafting documents and any correspondence.
As a barrister, Ben’s job is to give clients specialist legal advice and represent them in court. Ben’s legal advice includes advising on the strengths and weaknesses of a case.
In this way Ben and the solicitor work as a team to best represent a client.
- All family law areas
- Mediation and negotiation
- Family Court and High Court hearings
- Appeals - High Court and Court of Appeal
- NZ Bar Association
- Family Law Section
- New Zealand Law Society
- Contested hearings (NZ & England)
- High Court trial and appellate advocacy
- Court of Appeal
- Appointed Lawyer for Child
- Sutton (Trustees of Sutton Trust) v Bell [2021] NZCA 645
- Sutton v Bell [2020] NZFLR 27 - High Court
- Sutton (Trustees of Sutton Trust) v Bell [2017] NZFLR 779 - High Court
- NZLS CLE Seminar: Gift or Loan? - 2018
- Legalwise Family Law Forum - Drafting Section 21A Settlement Agreements: A Practitioner's Check List - 2019
- Legalwise Drafting for Overseas Assets - 2020
- Presenter NZLS Stepping Up programme - Barrister workshop 2016 – 2021
- Legalwise Affidavit Drafting Masterclass – 2023
- Waitākere Bar Cross Examination Workshop (co - presenter)- 2024
- BA (History) & LLB – 2001 – University of Otago
- Admitted Barrister and Solicitor (NZ) - 2002
- Admitted Solicitor (England and Wales) – 2005
- Barrister sole (NZ) – 2016
- Solicitor advocate (England and Wales) - 2022
