He holds the degrees of BA and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand in 1980.  He was a Crown Counsel in the Crown Law Office in Wellington before joining Russell McVeagh in Auckland in 1987. He was then a litigation partner of Russell McVeagh from 1989 until 2002 when he left to found Wilson Harle.

He is listed in the Hall of Fame in Dispute Resolution in the Asia Pacific Legal 500, a ranked lawyer in Dispute Resolution and Public Law in Chambers Asia-Pacific, a Distinguished Practitioner in Dispute Resolution in Asia Law Profiles and a Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation.