Aaron Lloyd, sports lawyer, partner at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Dylan Cleaver meets the lawyer who describes helping get Chris Cairns acquitted as the biggest win of his career.
Chances are if you're putting a call through to Aaron Lloyd late at night, somebody, somewhere has accused you of being a very naughty boy or girl.
Lately he's been taking a few calls.
Lloyd, 42, a partner for the past nine years at Minter Ellison, has carved out a reputation as the country's go-to sports lawyer. Over the past month or two he's been at the forefront of most of New Zealand's sporting flashpoints.
You might not remember his name and he'll be the first to admit he was no Beauden Barrett on the field, but a quick Google News inventory will see his name appear alongside Joe Moody, somewhat awkwardly next to Owen Franks (and James Parsons), and down there in a lowlit place with disgraced cyclist Karl Murray.
Lloyd was also the unnamed judicial officer that ruled on the case of netballer Fa'amu Ioane, the Northern Stars defender who was ordered off the court in a match against the Mystics.
On that occasion he found that the expulsion was justified, but the procedures and processes – now there's a couple of words lawyers love –needed more clarity.
Lloyd points out that sports law makes up just a third of his practice. His other specialities are employment law and white-collar or regulatory law. In a quiet moment he'll tell you that the sports side of his practice is the least profitable, but it does come with perks.
"It's not the publicity so much, but it does give you a ringside seat to elite sport."
That proximity to the pointy end of sport can be quite intoxicating and no case provided as much frisson as that of Chris Cairns.
The former Black Caps allrounder was accused of facilitating match-fixing, which in turn led to him facing perjury charges in the Southwark Crown Court. He was acquitted in what Lloyd describes as the biggest win of his career.
"Through his former teammates Adam Parore and Dion Nash, I was introduced to Chris when, literally, Scotland Yard was knocking on his door," Lloyd recalls.
"The case was fascinating because it was a classic example of everyone thinking they knew what it was about, what the 'evidence' was, and a lot of people formed a quick view that Chris was guilty. When you drilled into it you could see that the case was really rumour, innuendo and speculation."
Lloyd travelled with Cairns to the UK and accompanied him to hours of interviews.
"That was surreal. Going past the infamous spinning sign at Scotland Yard, through their bomb-proof gates, was quite something. I didn't act for him in the UK courts, but I spent some time with his legal team up there ahead of his trial and knowing you played a small part in helping him get acquitted was professionally rewarding. It was the right outcome and it was a good reminder to me that if you are good at what you do and you work hard, you can foot it with the very best counsel offshore."
The Cairns trial came at a personal and professional cost. Not everybody was happy with his decision to act for the cricketer. It fractured some longstanding relationships and strained others, he says without elaborating.
By the time the Cairns case had been thrust into his lap, Lloyd had established himself as a regular fixture on the sports law scene. How he got there owed much to an old friend, Stephen Cottrell, former general counsel for New Zealand Rugby.
"Cotts introduced me to rugby legal work, and in particular judicial hearings," Lloyd says.
His first gig was to be on-call counsel for Italy when they toured in 2009. A low-profile introduction it wasn't. Captain Sergio Parisse was cited for "allegedly" eye-gouging Isaac Ross. Lloyd defended the Italian great, Parisse was handed a nine-week sentence when it could have been a lot more and Nick Mallett was a happy coach.
As Lloyd later sat with Mallett in his hotel room watching the Lions take on the Springboks, Lloyd couldn't help think to himself that this sports law lark had its upside.
Lloyd has acted as inbound counsel for South Africa, the Wallabies and Argentina, and was used extensively during the 2011 World Cup, including by the luckless Sam Warburton after he was red-carded during Wales narrow semifinal loss to France.
While the All Blacks remain Cottrell's domain, the Super Rugby teams have come under his remit. As such, Moody and Franks has recently had cause to knock on his door, the latter after he caught Blues hooker Parsons with a high tackle.
Franks was handed a two-week sanction instead of four, in part because of his contrition, but Parsons said he never received an apology, contrary to the prop's submission.
The Franks case had the kind of postscript that makes a lie of the argument that all publicity is good publicity. It ended curiously when Lloyd went on radio to try to explain the semantics of sorry, which could be best summed up by the following philosophical proposition: Has an apologiser apologised if it's not heard by the apologee?
While Lloyd possibly regrets lifting his head above the parapet on that one, he's quietly proud of getting champion prop Toka Natua off a charge of biting following last year's Women's World Cup rugby final.
He was less successful in his defence of Murray, the cyclist with multiple drug infractions who recently took a hefty ban.
"I'm told Murray was the longest running case in NZ sports law, and ultimately ended up with him being banned for eight years," Lloyd says. "It could have been worse, and we won some steps along the way, but ultimately that was pretty dissatisfying, knowing a guy I was trying to help keep his business and career ends up receiving a significant ban.
"You feel like you've let someone down when that happens."
Lloyd is still uncomfortable with aspects of the case and feels Murray's combative personality made him a target of Drug Free Sport New Zealand, but "ultimately people make their own fate".
The sports world never stands still and Lloyd knows he will be called upon again soon to try to convince one judiciary or another that his client is innocent, not wholly responsible, or just plain sorry for the trouble has or she has caused.
It's a realisation that has him heading down another avenue.
"One area I am exploring more with clients, in both the commercial world, and the sporting world, is how to implement better risk management practices to prevent breaches occurring in the first place," he says.
"I spend a lot of time defending people and helping them manage a crisis when it occurs, but I also think that avoiding scandals is something I can help sports and commercial organisations with, whether that be managing risk of bribery and corruption, health and safety breaches or, in sports, potential issues around doping, match fixing or misconduct."
Put another way, Lloyd would move from the bottom of the cliff to the top.
Ben Stowers succumbed to a horrific injury during a pre-season rugby league match.