Nikki Chamberlain
Nikki Chamberlain is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland. She is also a PhD student in the Faculty of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales.
Before joining the University of Auckland, Nikki lectured Legal Writing at Vanderbilt University Law School in the United States. She received her LL.M. degree from Vanderbilt University. She made the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence in both the Fall and Spring Semesters. She was also awarded the Scholastic Excellence Award for Introduction to Legal Research, Writing and Analysis in the United States. She received her B.A./LL.B. (Hons) degree from the University of Auckland. She received a Senior Prize in her B.A. degree.
Prior to lecturing, Nikki practiced eight years as a Commercial Litigator at a large commercial law firm in Auckland, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts. She was a Senior Associate and practiced in a number of commercial law areas including contract law, tort law, company law, family law, insolvency law, trust litigation and estate litigation. Her clients included Bank of New Zealand, Goldman Sachs, GE Money, Bank of Scotland, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Westpac New Zealand Limited, ASB Bank Limited, HSBC, New Zealand Racing Board, New Zealand Crane Group, Dun & Bradstreet (NZ) Limited and Mona Dotcom. She represented a number of high net-worth individuals in their relationship property disputes. She appeared as counsel in the New Zealand Court of Appeal, the High Court, the District Court and the Family Court.
Nikki has expertise in a number of areas, including Torts, Complex Litigation including Class Actions and Litigation Funding, and Law of Family Property. Nikki currently lectures in all of these subjects at the University of Auckland.
Research Topic:
Remedying Mass Medical Device Harms: The Impact of Civil Procedure on Medical Device Product Liability Outcomes
Synopsis:
Every society makes choices in designing its civil procedure legal system – and, these choices matter. In the medical device product liability field, these choices directly impact whether and to what extent substantive legal rights are vindicated for the benefit or detriment of victims and wrongdoers. This dissertation investigates the civil procedure systems used in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand to remedy mass tortious harms in the medical device product liability field. It highlights how the legal, social, and economic outcomes differ when civil procedural choices vary. In these disputes, the United States employs multi-district litigation, Australia uses a class mechanism and New Zealand uses a regulatory response under the Accident Compensation Act 2001 against the backdrop of an emerging class action regime. Reform recommendations flow from the comparisons.
Supervisor/s:
Professor Michael Legg (UNSW), Professor Prue Vines (UNSW) and Professor Jaime King (UoA)
Areas of Interest:
Torts, Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation (Class Actions and Litigation Funding), and the Law of Family Property
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Chamberlain, N. (80%) and Watson S. (20%), “The Emergence and Reform of the New Zealand Class Action” in B. Fitzpatrick & R. Thomas (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Class Actions: An International Survey, 2021 (Cambridge Law Handbooks, pp. 305-333). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108770.
Chamberlain, N, “Privacy and Children” in Chamberlain, N and Penk, S (eds), Privacy Law in New Zealand (3rd ed.), Thompson Reuters, March 2023.
Chamberlain, N, “Privacy and Social Media” in Chamberlain, N and Penk, S (eds), Privacy Law in New Zealand (3rd ed.), Thompson Reuters, March 2023.
Warner, D., Chamberlain, N., & Penk, S., “Future Directions” in Chamberlain, N and Penk, S (eds), Privacy Law in New Zealand (3rd ed.), Thompson Reuters, March 2023.
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Chamberlain, N and Penk, S (eds), Privacy Law in New Zealand (3rd ed.), Thompson Reuters, March 2023
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Chamberlain, N. (2018). Contracting-Out of Class Action Litigation: Lessons from the United States. New Zealand Law Review, 2018(3), 371-427.
Chamberlain, N. (2018). Class Actions in New Zealand: An Empirical Study. New Zealand Business Law Quarterly, 24(2), 132-165.
Chamberlain, N. (2018). The Future of Economic Disparity Redress in New Zealand. New Zealand Universities Law Review, 28(2), 293-315.
Chamberlain, N. (2020). CBL Collapse Ignites Firestorm of Litigation. New Zealand Law Journal 163 – 166 and 195.
Chamberlain, N. (2021). Supreme Court Orders First Opt-Out Class Action in New Zealand: Southern Response Earthquake Services Limited v Ross (2021) Journal of Civil Litigation and Procedure 9, 143.
Chamberlain, N. (2021). Misappropriation of Personality: A Case for Common Law Identity Protection. Torts Law Journal 26, 195.
Journal Editor
Chamberlain, N., Nicoll, C. & Noonan, C., The Future of Class Actions, New Zealand Business Law Quarterly (Special Edition), (2018) 24(2) and 24(3).
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Conference Papers Presented
Chamberlain, N., Contracting-out of Class Action Litigation: Lessons from the United States, Emerging Scholars Symposium, Waikato University Law School, November 2017.
Chamberlain, N., Class Actions in New Zealand: An Empirical Study, The Future of Class Actions Symposium, University of Auckland Law School, March 2018.
Chamberlain, N., Contracting-out of Class Action Litigation: Lessons from the United States, The Future of Class Actions Symposium, Bell Gully, March 2018.
Chamberlain, N., Economic Disparity in Scott v Williams, Institute of Judicial Studies, Family Court Update to Family Court Judges, Auckland and Wellington, August 2018.
Chamberlain, N., The Future of Economic Disparity Redress in New Zealand, The Future of Family Law Conference with Lady Hale, New Zealand Law Society – Continuing Legal Education, Pullman Hotel, Auckland, September 2018.
Chamberlain, N., Misappropriation of Likeness: A Case for Common Law Identity Protection, Torts Obligations Conference, Melbourne University Law School, December 2018.
Chamberlain, N., The Emergence and Reform of the New Zealand Class Action, Vanderbilt University Law School, August 2019.
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