Kim Francis

L18 AIG Building
41 Shortland Street, Auckland
PO Box 304
Auckland 1140
kim.francis@lfmdisputes.com
m +64 21 170 0628
p +64 9 394 7932
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Kim is a leading New Zealand lawyer in the field of complex commercial, regulatory and insolvency disputes.  He has over 20 years’ litigation experience, including 6 years’ London-based experience in international arbitration.  Prior to Lindsay & Francis, Kim had 10 years at New Zealand’s largest specialist litigation firm including over 6 years as partner. 

Kim is known for his rigorous legal approach balanced by pragmatic commercial advice.  He particularly prides himself on his client-focused approach and developing a litigation strategy to best serve his client’s commercial needs.

• Qualifications

  LLB(Hons) BA (VUW), LLM (UCL)

  Kim has been admitted to the bar in New Zealand, Australia (at NSW and federal level) and England & Wales (with Higher Rights of Audience). He also has temporary admission in Samoa, and has appeared in the Samoan Supreme Court as counsel.

  He obtained his LLM with Distinction from University College London in 2010.

• Expertise

  Kim has particular expertise in insolvency-related claims and cases against director and auditors, having acted in some of the most significant New Zealand cases in this area and being a contributing author to the leading New Zealand text.

  Kim also has significant experience in regulatory disputes, having previously acted for many of New Zealand’s key regulators including New Zealand’s Commerce Commission, Financial Markets Authority and the New Zealand Transport Agency, as well as public sector entities such as the the Serious Fraud Office, Inland Revenue Department and Ministry of Education. In addition, Kim has acted on numerous commercial and commercial property-related disputes.

  Kim has appeared in many cases at all levels of the New Zealand courts, whether as sole or principal counsel or with senior counsel, including over 20 cases reported for their legal significance. His cases have included:

  • With Tim Lindsay, representing the independent directors of CBL Corporation Ltd (in liquidation) in relation to overlapping claims brought by liquidators, the Financial Markets Authority and shareholder class actions. The matter involved a negotiated settlement with five plaintiff groups and various defendants in advance of a scheduled 8+ month “stage one” trial.

  • Representing the liquidators in a claim for over $300 million against the directors and auditors of Property Ventures Ltd (in liquidation). The case was settled shortly before a 12-week trial.

  • Representing Fuji Xerox NZ in claims against its auditors and three former senior executives concerning significant accounting irregularities amounting to over $350 million.

  • Acting for parties in complex priority disputes arising out of the collapse of a property development group, including receivership and priority disputes (FTG Securities Ltd v Bank of New Zealand [2019] 3 NZLR 607 (CA); GP96 Ltd v PVG Securities Trustee Ltd (2019) 20 NZCPR 809 (CA); PVG Securities Trustee Ltd v 100 Investments Ltd (2019) 20 NZCPR 280).

  • Successfully representing the Commerce Commission in a test case concerning consumer credit fees in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court (Sportzone Motorcycles v Commerce Commission [2016] 1 NZLR 1024).

  • Representing a public sector entity in various strike out proceedings involving negligence claims (Party Bus Co Ltd v NZ Transport Agency [2017] 3 NZLR 185; Drive NZ Classic Ltd v LVVTA [2020] NZHC 3015).

  Kim also has considerable experience in international and domestic arbitration, including:

  • Acting on a US$1 billion ICC arbitration concerning a warranty claim arising under a US$5.5 billion deal for the acquisition of a telecommunications group.

  • Acting on a successful US$500 million LCIA arbitration claim between shareholders in a leading telecommunications company in an emerging market, and subsequent steps to enforce the award including successfully seeking freezing orders in the London Commercial Court.

  • Acting in a US$180 million fraud claim in the London Commercial Court, including an application for a stay under the Arbitration Act 1996 (UK) on the basis of an arbitration clause.

  • Successfully obtaining of proceedings commenced in New Zealand in breach of an arbitration clause. The judgment is the leading New Zealand case on the test to be applied in these circumstances (Ursem v Chung [2014] NZAR 1123).

• Recognition

  Kim is a contributing author to leading texts, Heath & Whale on Insolvency and Morison’s Company Law, and has been an adjunct lecturer at the University of Auckland teaching classes in appellate advocacy. He is a member of the New Zealand Law Society’s Civil Litigation and Tribunals Committee, which consults on the Law Society’s position on civil procedure and litigation issues.

  Kim has been personally ranked in various legal directories in the areas of dispute resolution or insolvency, including Chambers and Partners, Who’s Who Legal and Benchmark Litigation.

• Prior international law firm experience

  Dechert LLP, London (Senior Associate)

  Dewey & LeBoeuf, London (Associate)

  Debevoise & Plimpton, London (Solicitor, NZ)

• CV

  Available upon request