David Cooper KC is an experienced trial and appellate advocate who appears in the courts at all levels, in arbitrations and before specialist tribunals.  David has a general civil litigation practice with a particular focus on complex contractual disputes, company and securities law, takeovers, competition law, regulatory investigations, and construction and insurance disputes.

David also has particular expertise in class actions.  He acted for the defendant directors in the long-running Feltex shareholder class action (Houghton v Saunders), including in appeals to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.  He acts for A2 Milk in the current shareholder class action and for defendant directors in the Intueri Education Group shareholder class action (Fullarton v Arowana).

David graduated from the University of Auckland in 1991 with an LLB (Hons) and was admitted to the Bar later that year. He joined Bell Gully’s litigation department before continuing his studies at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a PhD in law in 1996. During this time, he spent a year teaching at the University of Chicago Law School as a Bigelow Teaching Fellow. David returned to Bell Gully in 1996 and joined the partnership as Litigation Partner in 2003. He joined Shortland Chambers as a Barrister in 2017.

David is a co-author of Corporate Law in New Zealand and is a Convenor of a Law Society Standards Committee.

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