Sally Trafford

• Masters of Law, Harvard Law School, USA, 2014
• LLB (Hons), BA, University of Auckland, NZ, 2009

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Sally maintains a broad civil litigation and advisory practice, with a particular interest in commercial litigation and arbitration, insolvency, relationship property and regulatory matters.

Prior to becoming a barrister sole, Sally practised in London at a top tier US firm specialising in international commercial arbitration and litigation. Sally joined Bankside Chambers as an Associate Member in 2024.  

Sally has experience at all levels of the NZ court hierarchy and has appeared as sole counsel at High Court and District Court levels. She has extensive arbitration experience (including as Tribunal Secretary) under LCIA, SIAC and AMINZ rules.

Sally holds a Masters of Law from Harvard University which she attended as a Fulbright and Ethel Benjamin scholar. She began her career as a judge’s clerk at the High Court at Auckland.  

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• Advisory work on draft insolvency legislation for international development bank.
• Acted for institutional investors in the RBS Rights Issue Litigation in London, a £4 billion claim against RBS arising from its 2008rights issue and subsequent collapse. This remains the biggest case in the area and one of the leading cases on the management and costs of group actions by investors in the UK.
• Acted for DP World subsidiaries in the successful defence of a$2 billion+ LCIA arbitration brought by the Republic of Djibouti against DP World in which the Republic sought to rescind a 30 year concession agreement to manage and operate the Doraleh container terminal in Djibouti.
• Advised the Colombian Government on its maritime dispute with Nicaragua: Analysed the Colombian Constitution and relevant case law in view of the International Court of Justice decision regarding maritime delimitation (this analysis of the Constitution was upheld by the Colombian Constitutional Court).
• Advised on an $800 million+ LCIA arbitration concerning breach of warranty provisions by the seller of an online gaming platform.

• Co-author of ‘New Zealand’ chapter in Sippel & Duggal (Eds) ForceMajeure and Hardship in the Asia-Pacific Region (2022, Juris Publishing,Inc., New York, USA).
• 'Tax Treaty Benefits: A Limit on the New Zealand GeneralAnti-Avoidance Rule?', Tax Notes Int’l (2014).

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