Ben is a barrister with a particular passion for competition, consumer, and regulatory matters. Prior to joining the bar in 2022, he was Chief Legal Counsel – Competition at the New Zealand Commerce Commission, and before that was Principal Counsel – Consumer and Credit. Between 2018 and 2020 he served on the Public Prosecutions Advisory Board. In 2023 he was appointed to the Solicitor General’s Cartel Prosecutors Panel. He has previously worked in the office of the Crown Solicitor at Auckland and a major commercial law firm.

Ben is experienced in both civil and criminal matters, and has appeared as counsel in all levels of the New Zealand Courts, including appeals to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

Anna specialises in corporate and commercial law and is the principal contact for Lane Neave's competition law practice. She routinely advises on the Commerce Act, Fair Trading Act and all aspects of competition and consumer law.

Bradley Aburn is a Partner in Russell McVeagh's Competition/Antitrust and Consumer Law team. Bradley advises clients on the full range of competition and consumer law issues, including merger control issues, joint venture advice, cartel investigations, market power investigations, Fair Trading Act issues, and Commerce Commission prosecutions and appeals. Bradley is also a regular speaker on competition and consumer law issues at conferences in New Zealand. Bradley returned to Russell McVeagh in 2019 after over five years working at Slaughter and May in both its London and Brussels offices.

Hayden is a founding director of Axiom Economics and head of its New Zealand operations. He has nearly twenty years’ experience advising clients on the competition and regulatory aspects of mergers, access to essential facilities, enforcement proceedings involving allegations of the misuse of market power and the economic regulation of network infrastructure service providers. For many years, Hayden has been listed by Who’s Who Legal as one of the world’s leading competition economists – one of only two New Zealand-based economists with this distinction.

Hayden has advised on some of the most high-profile competition proceedings in recent times, including BHP Billiton’s attempts to merge/collaborate with Rio Tinto, Sky’s proposed merger with Vodafone, FOXTEL’s acquisition of Austar and eBay’s proposal to tie the provision of its online marketplace with its online payment service, PayPal. He has provided expert written and oral evidence to regulators, mediators and arbitrators. He also presents regularly at conferences and has published papers and articles on a range of topics in competition and regulatory policy.

Jennifer is a highly experienced competition and consumer lawyer, and is the head of MinterEllisonRuddWatt’s competition law team. She advises on the full suite of competition and consumer law issues, including merger clearances, authorisations, cartels, leniency applications, collaborative activities/joint ventures, Commerce Commission investigations and enforcement actions. She regularly provides compliance seminars to clients and speaks on competition and consumer law issues at conferences and seminars in New Zealand. Jennifer returned to MinterEllisonRuddWatts in 2016 after almost 10 years in Australia where she worked in the competition teams at leading Australian firms. During her time in Australia, Jennifer acted on many high-profile competition enforcement actions, mergers, and other regulatory matters, including acting for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Some of Jennifer’s recent matters include acting for viagogo in High Court proceedings brought by the Commerce Commission alleging various breaches of the Fair Trading Act and acting for Tourism Holdings Limited in relation to its successful application for Commerce Commission clearance of its merger with Apollo.

John is a barrister specialising in commercial litigation and competition law. Before joining Bankside Chambers in 2012 John was with national law firm Kensington Swan for 26 years, including 20 years as a partner. He has been involved in a large number of major competition law cases including as senior counsel for a group of major retailers in proceedings against Visa and MasterCard and the major trading banks in relation to fixing of credit card interchange fees and alleged anti-competitive scheme rules, and as senior counsel for a major international airline in defending proceedings alleging fixing of air cargo fuel surcharges.

He has published widely in the field of competition law, and is a frequent speaker and commentator at conferences on competition law subjects. He is also a teaching fellow at the University of Auckland (teaching company law).

Alan is a commercial barrister specialising in competition law and regulation based in Auckland. Alan's specialisation commenced at the Commerce Commission as a solicitor, from where he joined Buddle Findlay acting for many clients across a wide range of industries related to antitrust matters involving the Commission and court proceedings. After partnership, Alan commenced as a Barrister and has continued practising in this area, including assisting the Commission earlier on.

Laura Meriluoto is an Associate Professor of Economics and Dean International for the College of Business and Law at the University of Canterbury, where she has worked since 2000. She is also the programme director of the Business Economics major. Her research in applied microeconomic theory has covered a range of topics including investigating the effects of the fixed price offer mechanism in Trade Me auctions, the market equilibria that arise when firms engage in existence advertising and the use of filtering and pricing to combat spam email. Her empirical research includes investigating misinvoicing in the China-New Zealand trade, the safety of New Zealand sex workers and the impact of agricultural technology production on income inequality in Yunnan, China. Laura teaches International Trade, Study tour to South America (Wine Economics course that takes students to Chile and Argentina), Economic Thinking for Business and Industrial Organisation (Economics for Competition Policy). Laura has been a member of the CLPINZ Board since 2014 and its chair since 2016.

Alicia is an experienced commercial litigator, with a particular focus on competition law. Alicia acts for clients being investigated by the Commerce Commission in relation to alleged breaches of competition law and consumer law. Alicia also provides advice to clients on competition law issues more generally, including in relation to mergers, proposed commercial agreements, joint ventures and preparing clearance applications to be filed with the Commission.

Alicia is passionate about competition law and has acted for clients in several of the recent large cartel cases in New Zealand, including air cargo and the real estate cartels.

Glenn is an experienced competition lawyer across a number of jurisdictions. He has extensive experience advising on the competition law aspects of mergers and acquisitions, having acted for numerous leading corporate clients on major global transactions including Bell Gully's recent major Vodafone and Trade Me deals. Glenn is also a regular speaker on competition and regulatory issues at conferences in New Zealand and overseas.

Will is a Partner in NERA's Antitrust and Competition; Energy; and Communications, Media, and Internet Practices. He leads NERA's regulatory work in New Zealand and Australia provides expert analysis and advice to clients in matters involving antitrust, regulatory, and financial economics. Will regularly assists clients dealing with complex regulatory issues, merger and abuse of market power investigations and quantum disputes in litigation and arbitration. The "GCR/Who's Who Legal: Competition" recognises him as a Future Leader for Competition Economics.

Chris Whelan is a Principal at RBB Economics based in Melbourne, and joined the firm in April 2011. He has 15 years of economic consulting experience based in Melbourne and London. Chris co-authored the research report “Cost Pass-Through: Theory, Measurement & Potential Policy Implications”, published by the UK Competition and Markets Authority in 2014 and is listed in Who’s Who Legal.

Chris gained a First Class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

Jessica is a competition law and regulatory specialist with more than 15 years’ experience spanning policy and practice. In her current role, she supports the Commission’s Competition Branch in their work on mergers, restrictive trade practices, and market studies. Previously, she worked in market-leading competition and regulatory teams at top-tier firms in New Zealand and Australia. She has advised clients across a diverse range of industries, including government, grocery, health, transport/logistics, and consumer products.