Adam
Hopkinson

I relocated to the Bay of Plenty with my family in 2007, and joined the firm’s litigation team. Prior to our move to Tauranga, I spent eight years working for Izard Weston in Wellington, carrying out a wide variety of litigation work, including regulatory enforcement for Maritime New Zealand, civil litigation and employment disputes. 

I have a wide range of general, civil and criminal litigation experience and particular expertise in regulatory prosecutions, which is a large focus of my role at Cooney Lees Morgan. The majority of prosecutions I'm involved with are under the Resource Management Act. However, I also regularly prosecute on behalf of local authorities under the Building Act, Dog Control Act and various bylaws.

I also have a general litigation practice, involving civil litigation in the High Court and District Court, employment cases, coronial inquests, criminal defence work and media law.

When not busy helping clients, I spend my time trying to control three children, running in the hills around the Bay of Plenty, occasionally surfing or trying to play Radiohead songs on the piano and guitar. We absolutely love living in the Bay – as a family we alternate between surfing and swimming at the beach and exploring the bush in the Kaimais.

Examples of work:

• Supreme Court – Acting for the purchaser of a large dairy farm from a State Owned Enterprise where the sale was challenged in a judicial review claim.

• Environment Court – Acting for Bay of Plenty Regional Council in a Resource Management Act prosecution of Fonterra for discharges of wastewater at Edgecumbe, resulting in a large fine for Fonterra.

• High Court – Acting for a kiwifruit packhouse in successfully defending a claim for breach of contract.

• District Court – Acting for a company that purchased a kiwifruit packhouse and successfully sued the vendor for carrying out unlawful building work prior to the sale.

• District Court – Acting for a person prosecuted by Civil Aviation Authority for operating an aircraft in a careless manner, who successfully applied for a discharge without conviction.

• Employment disputes – I have recently successfully negotiated a number of settlements of employment cases, which meant our clients avoided the risk, cost and stress of litigation.