Resume

Education and Qualifications:
Tauranga Boys College
Victoria University of Wellington

BA (Political Science & International Politics)
LLB

Holder of  current practising certificate from NZ Law Society 

Career:
For over 30 years, Gavin has practised law in Wellington, London and Auckland. 

In London, Gavin was at a boutique firm specialising in shipping, commercial law and commercial conveyancing, with an emphasis on shipping and commercial. The workinvolved travel regularly to Europe, and also to Egypt and USA.
 
On his return to New Zealand, Gavin settled in Auckland and then started a period of working for 2 public companies, firstly as Corporate Solicitor for Feltex New Zealand Ltd and then as Company Secretary/Legal Counsel for  NZ News Ltd. For Feltex, Gavin carried out most of the legal work for the company, including mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property matters, prospectus requirements for its wholly owned finance company, and legal advice generally. For NZ News, Gavin was a member of the senior management team and responsible for overseeing all legal and regulatory requirements, including Stock Exchange matters.

He carried our several acquisitions within the newspaper industry, dealing with Commerce Commission as required, and had constant dealings with defamation and IP matters for a wide range of subsidiary activities. He travelled widely to Australia, USA and UK. 

In 1989, Gavin started as a sole practitioner (under the firm name Gavin J Cockcroft). He developed flourishing practice from nothing based in Northcote, with a wide range of clients with a conveyancing and commercial emphasis. In the late ninties, Gavin sold half his practice to a partner and, the same year, purchased the Devonport firm of a deceased practitioner, Martin Moorhouse, changing the firm name to Cockcroft d’Young Moorhouse. The business relocated to Devonport, where it still remains.

The practice was broadly based on property and commercial work, with Gavin doing the lion’s share of the latter. Clients included a public listed company, high profile individuals and a number of successful enterprises. He advised and acted on a full range of company and commercial work, including business start-ups and acquisitions, IP matters, commercial land transactions, employment issues and the like.

Gavin left the partnership in June 2008 to pursue private business interests, which are ongoing.