Mark Williamson

Procurement and construction 

• Advising Auckland Council and Nelson City Council on their response to COVID-19 across a wide range of contracts including force majeure, suspension and termination issues.
• Advising Wellington Water on its water and wastewater upgrade projects including its emergency network repairs and Wallace Street Pipeline project.
• Advising Foodstuffs on its new 65,000 square metre warehouse and head office at Auckland Airport.This includes in relation to the appointment of main contractor (led by the Airport), separate contractors and consultants.
• Advising on the preparation and negotiation of a bespoke long term performance-based maintenance contract for a large social housing portfolio.
• Advising Auckland Council on the hosting of a range of global events including the America's Cup, Women's Cricket World Cup and most recently its role in the 2023 FIFA Women's Football World Cup.
• Advising a developer on a $300 million Auckland CBD Hotel Project.
• Advising Scarbro Construction on the main contract for the $80 million Deloitte House 20 Customhouse Quay, Wellington.
• Advising Yashili Dairy on contracts for the development of its $220 million dairy factory, including the main supply agreement based on the FIDIC Yellow Book.

Insurance sector 

• Advising on the licensing of five insurers under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 and the application of a range of regulation to insurers and brokers.
• Advising an array of consultants, contractors and principals on contract works, professional indemnity and general liability insurance policies and the inter-play between those policies and applicable contractual arrangements. 
• Advising the Insurance Council of New Zealand on a range of regulatory and insurance related issues.
• Advising a range of underwriters on issues and re-building programmes in respect of the Christchurch earthquakes. 

Other sectors and experience  

• New Zealand legal adviser to Expedia Inc and related companies.
• New Zealand legal adviser to General Mills.
• Principal New Zealand legal adviser to Mondelez New Zealand (formerly Cadbury).
• Advising on Pharmac procurement processes.
• Advising a range of global companies on the application of New Zealand clinical trial regulations.
• Advising Foodstuffs on all major competition matters since 2001.
• Two successful applications for Commerce Act clearance for Rheem New Zealand.

• Mark is ranked in the 2019 Legal 500 Asia-Pacific rankings as a leading individual in both Competition Law and Real Estate & Construction. Legal 500 describes Mark as “a highly regarded construction contract lawyer".
• Mark is ranked as a Leading Individual for Competition in the 2019 Legal 500 rankings. Legal 500 described Mark as a "competition and regulatory specialist" who is a "highly regarded competition lawyer". Mark has advised clients "Foodstuffs North Island on the Commerce Act", and " Guthrie Bowron, on competition aspects of a business sale agreement".
• Mark is ranked as a Leading Individual for Construction in the 2019 Legal 500 rankings. Legal 500 described Mark as "very easy to deal with and provides practical and effective advice" and remarked on Mark's advice for "China Construction New Zealand on a joint venture to build the NZ$200m Park Hyatt Hotel". 
• Mark was ranked as a 'leading individual' Competition/Antitrust lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2016, with Chambers noting that he 'is recognised for his handling of competition law compliance matters. Clients say: "He has gone above and beyond to learn about our business in order to provide extremely well-honed and commercially pragmatic advice that is right on point and directly relevant to our business."'
• The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019 describes Mark as 'highly regarded construction contract lawyer'.
• Mark was ranked as an 'Up and Coming' Competition/Antitrust lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific Guide 2015, with Chambers noting that he 'is appreciated for his high level of client service, with sources saying he is "very down to earth and helpful, and able to quickly express complex law in fairly simple terms."'
• Mark was noted as a recognised Competition/Antitrust practitioner in Chambers Asia-Pacific Guide 2014.