LawFuel Power List 2025
No. 40
A recent profile win in the te Pati Maori internicine war where he achieve dht etemporary reappointment of excommunicated TPM MP Mariameno Kapa Kingi saw Mike Colson KC in the news for a rather more public dispute than many he handles.
Appointed KC in 2021 after 16 years as Bell Gully partner, his Supreme Court victories include Ross Asset Management (NZ’s largest Ponzi scheme, successfully arguing for liquidators’ claw-back rights [2016] 2 NZLR 783) and Kawarau Falls Station [2018] 1 NZLR 378. Currently acting for Harbour Asset Management in the CBL class action (settlement approved September 2023) and for the Attorney-General in the high-profile Ngāi Tahu freshwater case—one of 2025’s most significant Treaty/constitutional matters.
His expertise in insolvency, energy (Todd Petroleum, Maui Gas Field), public law (Pharmac judicial reviews), and Treaty issues positions him as Wellington’s leading commercial/public law silk. At No. 40, Colson represents Wellington’s specialist excellence challenging Auckland’s chambers dominance.
LawFuel Law Power List
