Nigel Wilson

 
Admitted 1992 South Australia
High Court of Australia
 
Signed Bar Roll 1995
 
Academic Qualifications LLB (Hons), University of Adelaide (1992)
BEc, University of Adelaide (1990)
GDLP, University of South Australia (1992)
BCL, University of Oxford (1993)

Areas of Practice

Administrative & Constitutional Law
Administrative Law
Appellate Advocacy
Appellate Advocacy
Civil Litigation
Common Law - General
Defamation and Media Law
Commercial Litigation
Banking Finance & Securities Law
Commercial Law - General
Construction Engineering Law
Corporations and Securities Law
Equity
Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Liquidation Law
Insurance Law
Intellectual Property Law
Occupational Health and Safety Law
Product Liability Law
Property Conveyancing Law
Taxation and Revenue Law
Trade Practices and Competition Law
Wills, Probate and Family Inheritance
Wills, Probate and Family Inheritance matters

Professional Experience

Nigel Wilson practises in all areas of commercial and civil litigation.

His particular areas of expertise are:

  • Trade Practices and Competition Law
  • Corporations and Securities Law
  • Insurance/ Contract/ Tort Law
  • Professional and Product Liability Law
  • Administrative and Constitutional Law
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Defamation and Media Law
  • Equity
  • Intellectual Property Law
  • Sports Law

Nigel has appeared as counsel in the Federal, Supreme, District and Magistrates Courts. He has acted for corporations, company directors, councils, insureds and insurers, liquidators and administrators, private clients and regulatory agencies (including the ACCC and ASIC).

He has been engaged to appear and advise in relation to all aspects of commercial and civil litigation including the investigation stages (and conducting statutory examinations), pleadings, interlocutory hearings, mediations and arbitrations, trials, appeals, the enforcement of judgments and the taxation of costs.

Nigel has also presented papers at international, national and local conferences in his areas of expertise.

Professional Activities

Member, South Australian Bar Association, 1995-present
Secretary, South Australian Bar Association Bar Reader's Course Committee, 2001-present
Member, Federal Litigation Section, Law Council of Australia, 1997-present
Member, Law Society of South Australia, 1993-present
Member, Continuing Legal Education Committee, Law Society of SA, 1995-1998
Member, Australia and New Zealand Sports Law Association, 1991-present
Member, Australian Insurance Law Association, 1993-present
Member, Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Association, 2007-present
Member, Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand, 2007-present

Significant cases include

Trade Practices and Competition Law
Counsel in numerous trade practices and competition law cases, including:

  • misleading and deceptive conduct cases including sale of business disputes, investment and property disputes, joint venture disputes and mining tenement disputes
  • defective products claims
  • unconscionable conduct claim by the ACCC pursuant to the Trade Practices Act regarding the supply of educational materials in remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and subsequent compensation orders (ACCC v Keshow) (Junior Counsel and Counsel for the Applicant)
  • enforcement action by the ACCC pursuant to the Trade Practices Act regarding price fixing in the demolition industry in government tender process and subsequent pecuniary penalties (ACCC v McMahon Services Pty Ltd & Ors) (Junior Counsel for the Applicant)
  • enforcement action by the ACCC pursuant to the Trade Practices Act regarding the timber industry and subsequent injunctions, undertakings and compliance programs (ACCC v Auspine Limited & Ors) (Junior Counsel for the Applicant)
  • misuse of market power in the transport industry and breach of contract claim (Charlick Trading Pty Ltd v Australian National Railways Commission and National Rail Corporation)  (Junior Counsel for the Applicant) and subsequent gross sum taxation of costs (Counsel for the Applicant)

Corporations and Securities Law
Counsel in numerous corporations and securities law cases, including:

  • shareholder agreement disputes, shareholder claims and corporate control disputes
  • actions involving corporations and directors and officers for breach of duty
  • defence of a minority shareholder action (Catto & Ors v Hampton Australia Limited (in liq) & Ors) (Junior Counsel for the liquidator and the company)
  • winding up of unregistered investment scheme (Counsel for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission)
  • banning order against financial adviser (Counsel for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission)

Insurance/ Contract/ Tort Law
Counsel in relation to numerous insurance claims for both insurers and insureds, including pursuant to contractual and statutory insurances for professional indemnity, marine, life, disability, motor vehicle and public liability cover

Counsel in relation to complex tort and contract claims involving governments and public authorities, including:

  • claim in the Federal Court against a State Government and statutory authority in relation to a development project (Junior Counsel for the Applicant)
  • claim in the Supreme Court against a State Government in relation to a major development site and tender process (Junior Counsel for the Plaintiff)
  • claim against the State of South Australia by an indigenous plaintiff (Junior Counsel for the Plaintiff)
  • appeal against a significant judgement against a showground involving duties of showground operator and exclusion clauses (Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society) (Junior Counsel for the Appellant showground)

Counsel in relation to:

  • contractual and property disputes involving commercial and residential property contracts, employment contracts, franchises, leases, lending and guarantee contracts
  • building and construction disputes
  • debt recovery and defence claims
  • personal injuries actions
  • superannuation and taxation matters

Annual Review since 2005 of the Australian case law and legislation in relation to professional liability and underwriting risk for the purposes of the South Australian legal practitioners’ compulsory professional indemnity policy with international underwriters.

Professional and Product Liability Law
Counsel in numerous professional and product liability law claims, including:

  • professional duties of accountants and auditors, architects, engineers, land and business agents, medical practitioners, mortgage brokers, solicitors and valuers
  • defective products claims
  • claim by a rural co-operative (in administration) for the recovery of financial losses  against mortgage broker, accountants/auditors, solicitor and directors and officers (The Mypolonga Co-operative Society Ltd)   (Junior Counsel for the Plaintiffs)
  • appeal regarding duties of surgeons (Hillier & Carney v Lucas) (Junior Counsel for the Respondent)
  • claim for losses suffered by a car manufacturer against a parts manufacturer (Junior Counsel for the Applicant)
  • claim for losses suffered by orange juice producer against rural fruit packer and processor (Junior Counsel for the Respondent)

Administrative and Constitutional Law
Counsel in relation to administrative and constitutional law matters, including:

  • interpretation of Commonwealth and State legislation and delegated legislation
  • investigations pursuant to Commonwealth and State legislative powers
  • enforcement of statutory powers by statutory authorities
  • investigations and enforcement by professional and statutory disciplinary bodies and incorporated associations

Alternative Dispute Resolution
Counsel in numerous alternative dispute resolutions (both court ordered and private), including:

  • arbitrations
  • mediations

Defamation and Media Law
Counsel in relation to defamation proceedings and defences and media law matters, including:

  • publications in print and electronic media
  • Privacy Act principles
  • internet and email liability

Equity
Counsel in relation to equity matters, including:

  • partnership disputes
  • estate and family inheritance disputes
  • family and de facto disputes
  • trust matters

Intellectual Property Law
Counsel in relation to numerous intellectual property claims, including:

  • copyright claims
  • patent claims
  • trade mark claims
  • misleading and deceptive conduct claims
  • passing off actions
  • protection of confidential information and trade secrets

Sports Law
Counsel for sports persons, sports associations and sports syndicate members in sports law matters, including:

  • membership disputes
  • damages claims
  • defamation claims
  • brand and goodwill protection claims

Scholarships and Awards

Australian Insurance Law Association Travelling Fellowship for 1992 for best paper written by a person aged 30 years and under

Knox and Hargrave Sesquicentenary Postgraduate Scholarship in Law for 1992

University of Oxford Overseas Bursary for 1992

Publications and Papers

University of Adelaide Honours Thesis (First Class Honours), "Commonwealth v Verwayen - The case explained; The emergence of "one estoppel", the destruction of "waiver" and its implications for the doctrine of election"

"Estoppel, Election and Waiver", Australian Insurance Law Bulletin, Dec 1992/ Jan 1993 (Vol 8, No 5).

"Estoppel in the Insurance Industry - Careful What You Say and Do!", Australian Insurance Law Association, Breakfast Seminar, May 1994

"Torts - A General Update", Law Society of South Australia Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 9 September 1998

"Estoppel in Australia: Recent Developments since Verwayen", International Workshop on Estoppel, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 23 -25 August 1999

"The Australian Business Judgment Rule - "Safe Harbour" for Active Directors", LAAMS Commercial Law Update (South Australia), 13 February 2001

"The Recreational Services (Limitation of Liability) Act 2002 (SA) - Some Practical Considerations", Law Society of South Australia State Legal Convention, 22 July 2004

"Sections 45 & 47 of the Trade Practices Act (Cth) - Some Recent Developments", 2nd Annual University of South Australia Trade Practices Workshop, 29 October 2004.

Riskwatch News for Lawguard Management Pty Ltd, Legal Practitioners' Professional Indemnity Insurance Scheme, 2005 - present

"Civil Appeals", Law Society of South Australia, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, 2007 - present

"The Workplace of the Future - Liability Issues and Risk Management", Second International Conference on Legal, Security and Privacy Issues in Information Technology (LSPI), Bejing, China, December 2007 published in "Cyberlaw Security and Privacy" (Edited by S. Kierkegaard), 2007. Published as N. Wilson, "The Workplace of the Future - Liability Issues and Risk Management" (2008) International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry, Vol. 1, No. 4 pp 363-371.

"Forensics in Cyberspace - The Legal Challenges", E-Forensics 2008 Conference (The First International Conference on Forensic Applications and Techniques in Telecommunications, Information and Multimedia), Adelaide, South Australia, January 2008.

"The Workplace of the Future is in the Global Knowledge Economy", Knowledge Globalization Conference 2008, Suffolk University Sawyer Business School, Boston, USA, April 2008.

"The Cyber-Workplace - Liability Issues and Risk Management", Digital Forensics, Security and Law 2008 Conference, Oklahoma City, USA, April 2008.

"Regulating the Information Age - How will we cope with technological change?" Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration Law and Technology Conference, Sydney, Australia, June 2008.

Employment (current)

Barrister, Bar Chambers, November 1995 - present

Chair, International Workshop on e-Forensics Law component of the e-Forensics 2009 Conference, January 2009, University of Adelaide

Special Counsel (Law and Regulatory), Convergent Communications Research Group, University of Adelaide, 2008 - present

School of Law, University of Adelaide:
Lecturer and Course Co-ordinator, Negligence and Intentional Wrongs, Master of Laws, 2008 - present
Assistant Director, Faculty of the Professions Research Unit for the Study of Society, Law and Religion, 2008 - present
Lecturer and Course Co-ordinator, Technology, Law and Society, Master of Laws, 2009 - present