Headshot

James Mellsop

Senior Managing Director
Chair of NERA's Global Antitrust and Competition Practice

Contact

Auckland
Tel: +64 9 928 3290

Wellington
Tel: +64 4 819 2550
Fax: +64 4 819 2552

Sydney
Tel: +61 2 8864 6536
Fax: +61 2 8864 6549

Email: james.mellsop@nera.com
vCard: Download

Education

MCA (with Distinction) in economics, Victoria University of Wellington
BCA (with Honours) in economics (1st Class), Victoria University of Wellington
LLB degree, Victoria University of Wellington
BCA in accountancy, Victoria University of Wellington

Experience

James Mellsop applies expert economic analysis to legal issues in the areas of competition, regulation, price setting, contractual disputes, damages, fair trading, tax, and resource management. His experience includes analyzing the economic implications of mergers and acquisitions, as well as joint ventures and other contracts. Mr. Mellsop has also evaluated market behavior and regulatory interventions in a variety of sectors and industries, including media, telecommunications, utilities, mining, health care, retailing, transport, manufacturing, agriculture, software, building products, banking and finance, and insurance.

Mr. Mellsop has analyzed and quantified the appropriate price to be paid for access to infrastructure (e.g., airports, ports, pipelines, and databases) and for property leases; the economic and environmental effects of resource management decisions; and damages as a result of breach of contract, collusion, and misrepresentation.

He has provided expert evidence before the Australian Competition Tribunal, the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the New Zealand High Court, the Competition Appeal Board of Singapore, the New Zealand Environment Court, the New Zealand Commerce Commission, arbitrators, Resource Management Act Commissioners, and the Waitangi Tribunal. He has worked on projects in New Zealand, Australia, and Asia, and has been engaged by both the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the New Zealand Commerce Commission.

Prior to joining NERA in 2008, Mr. Mellsop directed the New Zealand competition practice of another international economics consultancy. In addition, he worked for the New Zealand Treasury on microeconomic policy issues, particularly competition, regulatory, and telecommunications policy. From 1992 to 1996, Mr. Mellsop worked as a lawyer for Bell Gully, with a focus on competition, corporate, and oil and gas law.

Title Type Author
Is Lax Enforcement of Antitrust Policy to Blame for an Increase in Market Power? Published Article James Mellsop and C.-Philipp Heller
The Role of Fixed Cost Savings in Merger Analysis White Paper James Mellsop
Failing Firm Merger Analysis in the Shadow of COVID-19 White Paper James Mellsop, Dr. Will Taylor, and Kevin Counsell
NERA Letter to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Memo Kevin Counsell, Prof. Lewis Evans, James Mellsop
Some Economics of a “Misuse of Market Power” Published Article Mr. James Mellsop and Dr. Craig Malam
Levelling the Playing Field: The Role of the Internet and Mobile Computing in Improvi... Study Dr. Lawrence Wu, James Mellsop, Dr. Kristin Terris, Dr. Will Taylor, et al.
Quantifying Benefits and Costs under the Resource Management Act: Lessons from Commer... Working Paper By James Mellsop and Kevin Counsell
Objective RMA Decision-Making: Cost Benefit Analysis as an Economic and Practical Fra... Published Article Kevin Counsell, Dr. Lewis Evans, and James Mellsop
New Zealand Competition Law and Policy Book A book by Matt Sumpter with contributions from James Mellsop and Ben Hamlin
An Assessment of the DIRA Triggers Report James Mellsop, Kevin Counsell, and Will Taylor