Jonathan Orpin-Dowell

Constitutional and public law proceedings

• Lead counsel for NZME and Stuff in successful judicial review proceedings challenging Family Court orders restraining the publication of any information relating to the children of Tom Phillips (NZME Publishing Ltd v Family Court at Hamilton [2026] NZHC 63).

• Counsel assisting the special counsel in the Judicial Conduct Panel inquiry into the conduct of Judge Ema Aitken. This was the first time a Panel had substantively considered the removal of a judge from office and raised questions of first impression in New Zealand, including the legal test for removal from office, the Panel’s role in the removal process, and the scope of judges’ comity obligations.

• Counsel assisting the High Court on Judge Aitken’s application for judicial review of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner’s decision to recommend the appointment of a Judicial Conduct Panel to inquire into the judge’s conduct (Aitken v Judicial Conduct Commissioner [2025] NZHC 987, [2025] NZAR 206).

• Lead counsel for the Ministry of Primary Industries in the High Court and Court of Appeal in the first appeals under the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2019 (Criffel Deer Ltd v Chief Executive of the Ministry for Primary Industries [2025] NZCA 239 and [2024] NZHC 862).

• Acting for the New Zealand Law Society as intervenor in the Court of Appeal and High Court in judicial review proceedings challenging the legality of the lockdown imposed by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Borrowdale v Director-General of Health [2020] NZHC 2090, [2020] 2 NZLR 864 and [2021] NZCA 520, [2022] 2 NZLR 356).

Contemporary Te Tiriti o Waitangi litigation

• Lead counsel for Ngāti Manawa in judicial review proceedings in the High Court concerning the tikanga-based resolution process for allocating to iwi, on the basis of mana whenua, the Central North Island forests land returned under the Central North Island Forests Settlement (Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Manawa v CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd [2026] NZCA 92 and [2022] NZHC 1880, [2023] NZHC 3470).

• Lead counsel for the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency in urgent successful judicial review proceedings in the High Court challenging the Ministry of Health’s decision not to provide the applicants with data to enable them to identify Māori not vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to provide targeted kaupapa Māori vaccine outreach services (Te Pou Matakana Ltd v Attorney-General [2022] 2 NZLR 148, [2021] NZHC 2942 and [2022] 2 NZLR 178, [2021] NZHC 3319).

• Acting for Ngāti Whakahemo in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court in successful judicial review proceedings challenging the decision by Landcorp to sell land subject to a Treaty of Waitangi claim to a third party (Ririnui v Landcorp Farming Limited [2016] NZSC 62, [2016] 1 NZLR 1056; [2015] NZCA 160; and [2014] NZHC 3402).

Commercial, trusts and property litigation

• Counsel, on appeal, for a firm of solicitors successfully setting aside High Court judgment finding them liable in negligence and ordering payment of over $3 million in damages (Grimshaw & Co v Body Corporate 207624 [2025] NZCA 392, [2025] NZCCLR 826).

• Lead counsel at trial and on appeal for a body corporate successfully seeking a repair scheme under the Unit Titles Act 2010 to repair a leaky apartment building. The judgment clarified the principles applicable to such schemes and the extent to which owners are bound by their previous agreement to a scheme (Hannam v Body Corporate 126001 [2024] NZCA 274, [2024] 3 NZLR 266 and [2023] NZHC 3604).

• Lead counsel for the body corporate in a long-running dispute concerning the liability of a dissident owner to pay for leaky building repairs. This included decisions on the Court’s jurisdiction to grant interim relief to stay an arbitration ([2018] NZHC 3356), when proceedings become an abuse of process because they involve collateral challenges to earlier litigation ([2019] NZCA 408 and [2021] NZHC 365), and the operation of set-off rights in corporate insolvency ([2021] 3 NZLR 17, [2021] NZCA 145).

• Acting for New Zealand Guardian Trust Co Ltd successfully defending claims for breach of trust arising out of sale of trust property (Easton v The New Zealand Guardian Trust Co Ltd [2021] NZHC 2084, (2021) 5 NZTR 31-109). 

• Acting for Dilworth Trust Board in the High Court and Court of Appeal in proceedings under the Public Works Act successfully seeking the return of land underneath the Newmarket Viaduct in Auckland (Dilworth Trust Board v Attorney-General [2017] NZHC 2987 and [2021] NZCA 48, [2021] 3 NZLR 857).

Counsel assisting appointments

• Counsel assisting the Court of Appeal in an appeal raising the question whether appeals against cost orders made in the High Court are appealable as of right or require leave (Siemer v Legal Complaints Review Officer [2024] NZCA 219, [2024] 2 NZLR 593).

• Counsel assisting the Court of Appeal in an appeal against orders made in advance of a criminal retrial by the High Court requiring media entities to remove online articles published about the first trial. The main issue on appeal was whether the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to entertain the appeal (Lyttelton v R [2015] NZCA 279, [2016] 2 NZLR 21).

• Counsel assisting the High Court on an application concerning the discoverability of a legal opinion. The application raised the question whether only the Attorney-General can waive privilege held by the Crown (Carter v Coroner's Court at Wellington [2015] NZHC 1467, [2016] 2 NZLR 133).

• Arbitration

• Civil and commercial litigation

• Companies and securities law

• Equity and trusts

• Insurance law

• Media law

• Māori and Treaty of Waitangi issues

• Public and administrative law

• Public Works Act

• New Zealand Law Style Guide (1st, 2nd and 3rd eds, Thomson Reuters, Wellington, 2009, 2011 and 2018) (co-author)

• "Reviewing 'Unreasonable' Discretionary Decisions Made by Trustees" (2015) 21 NZBLQ 131

• “Advising Mariners Following a Maritime Casualty – Some Recent Lessons” (paper co-presented to the Maritime Law Conference, Taupo, May 2015)

• “How to Identify Ultra Vires Decisions” (paper presented to the 10 Points in One Day Conference, Wellington, February 2015)

• “Standard Fact Patterns” (paper co-presented to the NZLS Issues in Unjust Enrichment Intensive, July 2014)

• “Developing Policy that is Consistent with the Bill of Rights: Some Comments on the Electoral Reform Project” (paper presented to the Reviewing New Zealand’s Constitution Conference, Wellington, May 2011)

• “Constitutional aftershocks” [2010] NZLJ 386 (co-author)

• “Electoral finance regulation” [2009] NZLJ 367 (co-author)

• “The Personal Property Securities Act 1999 and Trusts – When is an Interest Under a Trust a Security Interest” (2008) 14 NZBLQ 109

• Master of Legal Studies (First Class Honours), University of Auckland (2017)

• Bachelor of Laws (Honours), University of Auckland (2007)

• Bachelor of Arts (Economics), University of Auckland (2007)

Jonathan has practised as a barrister at the independent bar since 2009. Prior to that he worked as a judge’s clerk at the Court of Appeal for the Honourable Ellen France and tutored property law at Victoria University of Wellington.