Andrew Downie of counsel on 'Conducting Expert Conclaves and Preparing Joint Reports'

Speaker Profiles:

The Hon Paul Heath KC was called to the New Zealand Bar in 1978 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1998. In 2002, Mr Heath KC was appointed a judge of the High Court of New Zealand and between 2003 and 2017 he sat as an ad hoc member of the Court of Appeal. After Mr Heath KC's retirement from the bench in 2018, he accepted appointments as an arbitrator in both domestic and international arbitrations. He is a member of Bankside Chambers in New Zealand and is an Associate at South Square Chambers in London. He also holds rooms at Maxwell Chambers in Singapore. 

The Hon Michael Whitten KC has, for more than 30 years, appeared in courts, tribunals and arbitrations throughout Australia and overseas. Between September 2019 and August 2023, Mr Whitten KC served as the Lord Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga and President of the Tongan Court of Appeal. During that term, he heard and determined over 1,300 cases across all areas of law with over 300 judgments published and/or cited on PACLII.  In 2024, Mr Whitten KC was appointed an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa. He is a co-editor of the 4th, 5th and 6th editions of ‘Brooking on Building Contracts’ and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Mr Whitten KC is a founding member of MTECC.

Andrew Downie has 20 years’ experience in commercial law and litigation, particularly in building and construction, infrastructure, water, insurance, property law and subdivisions, corporations law, administrative law and interpretation of contracts and statute matters. He appears in all jurisdictions, both for trials and arbitrations and as a lead counsel and a junior. Mr Downie is recognised in Doyles Guide as a leading construction barrister, both in Victoria and Australia-wide. He is the current chair of MTECC and is also the author of the LexisNexis service Court Forms, Precedents and Pleadings: Building Contracts Victoria.