Ben Prewett

BCom/LLB(Hons) – University of Auckland, 2011

LLM – Stanford University, 2014

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Ben specialises in commercial and civil litigation and in international arbitration with particular experience in disputes relating to energy and natural resources, construction, insurance, mergers and acquisitions and shareholders’ agreements.

Before joining Bankside Chambers, Ben was a senior associate at Three Crowns LLP in London and Paris, specialising in international arbitration.  His international arbitration experience has included numerous international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations under the ICC, UNCITRAL, LCIA, ICSID and SCC Rules.  

Ben holds a BCom/LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland and an LLM from Stanford University, which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar.  He has been recognised as a highly regarded lawyer by The Legal 500 and as a Future Leader by Who’s Who Legal: International Arbitration, in which Ben was described as “a very well-prepared advocate with tremendous skill in cross-examination”.

Civil and commercial litigation

InterCity Group (NZ) Ltd v NakedBus NZ Ltd [2013] NZHC 379

Acted for NakedBus in the first New Zealand case relating to the alleged use of a competitor’s trade mark in Google AdWords advertising.  Appeared as junior counsel in several pre-trial hearings in the High Court, including in successfully opposing an application for an interim injunction.

Wealth Buy Property Ltd v Martin Stevenson and Bella May Stevenson [2012] NZHC 1609

Sole counsel for Wealth Buy in successful application for summary judgment,  enforcing sale and purchase agreement against purchasers.

Claim against New Zealand law firm(2012)

Defended a New Zealand law firm against a claim for negligence.  Appeared as junior counsel in week-long High Court trial. Claim subsequently resolved in a favourable settlement.

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International commercial arbitrations

Private Individual A v Private Individual B

Acted for a private individual in a dispute under a contract to divide a multi-billion dollar portfolio of assets (ICC Rules, Paris seat, Kuwaiti law).

European Energy Company A v European Energy Company B

Acted for a major European energy company in a dispute under a shareholders’ agreement (ICC Rules, Geneva seat, Spanish law).

North American Energy Company A v North American Energy Company B

Acted for a major North American energy company in a dispute under a contract relating to the payment of proceeds of an arbitration (AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules, New York seat, New York law).

Private Equity Firm A v Private Individuals and Private Equity Firm B

Acted for a major private equity firm in a dispute arising from the acquisition of a Brazilian technology company (ICC Rules, São Paulo seat, Brazilian law).

National Oil Company v Independent Energy Company

Acted for a national oil company in a dispute under a joint operating agreement relating to the development of a gas field in Uzbekistan (ICC Rules, London seat, English law).

National Oil Company v Energy Companies

Acted for a national oil company in a pricing dispute under a gas purchase agreement (LCIA Rules, London seat, English law).

National Oil Company v National Oil Company

Acting for a national oil company in relation to a claim and counterclaim under a production sharing contract (ICC Rules, Paris seat, Vietnamese law).

International Energy Company v National Power Company

Acting for an international energy company in a dispute under a power purchase agreement (UNCITRAL Rules, Paris seat, Bulgarian law).

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Investment treaty arbitrations

Mytilineos Holdings S.A. (Greece) v The Republic of Serbia

Acted for Mytilineos in a successful claim against Serbia arising out of debts owed by a Serbian company, which Mytilineos was prevented from recovering by a long‑running statutory moratorium on creditors’ claims (Greece-Yugoslavia BIT, UNCITRAL Rules).

WCV Capital Ventures Cyprus Limited and Channel Crossings Limited (Cyprus) v The Czech Republic

Acting for WCV and Channel Crossings in a dispute arising from the Czech Republic’s termination of licenses to operate video lottery terminals (Cyprus-Czech Republic BIT, UNCITRAL Rules).

Corcoesto S.A. v Kingdom of Spain

Acted for Corcoesto in a dispute arising from Spain’s termination of gold mining concessions (Spain‑Panama BIT, UNCITRAL Rules).