Wells Harrell
Principal | Kaihautū
BA (Carleton College), JD (University of Virginia)
Contact
jwh@lcc.co.nz
Wells is an accomplished litigator and competition law specialist, with a wealth of experience representing public sector clients in relation to government investigations and enforcement actions. His representations include advising and litigating for Crown entities in a wide range of public law matters, including judicial reviews and enforcement proceedings.
Wells qualified as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand after practicing law for over twelve years in the United States. He joined Luke Cunningham Clere from the US Federal Trade Commission, where he served as an attorney advisor to Chair Lina M Khan, a counsel to three Directors of the Bureau of Competition, and a staff attorney in two competition enforcement divisions. In those roles, Wells advised on competition policy, negotiated settlements, coordinated with other regulators, and supported proceedings to block unlawful mergers and remedy anticompetitive conduct. He joined the FTC from private practice, having litigated in trial and appellate courts across the US in cases involving antitrust, civil rights, intellectual property, securities law, and constitutional law.
Wells began his legal career as a judge's clerk in a US federal district court. In law school he interned at the US Department of Justice, served as an articles editor on the school's flagship law journal, and worked on several cases before the US Supreme Court.
Recent and notable work:
Led complex investigations of potentially anticompetitive conduct under Part 2 of the Commerce Act 1986 as a secondee to the Commerce Commission
Acting for the Commerce Commission in appeals against its input methodology decisions for airports and gas pipeline businesses regulated by Part 4 of the Commerce Act 1986 – New Zealand Airports Association Inc v Commerce Commission [2025] NZHC 239; First Gas Ltd v Commerce Commission [2026] NZHC 1224
Acting for Land Information New Zealand in proceedings to enforce the Overseas Investment Act 2005 – Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand v Zhang & Ors
Advised the Climate Change Commission on issues arising from the Climate Change Response Act 2002 and acted for the Commission in its successful defence of its ministerial advice on emissions budgets – Lawyers for Climate Action NZ Inc v Climate Change Commission [2025] NZSC 200
Acted for the US Federal Trade Commission in a live enforcement action alleging unfair methods of competition by a multinational ecommerce platform – FTC v Amazon.com Inc
Acted for the US Federal Trade Commission in successful challenges to block mergers in the biosciences and healthcare industries – FTC v Illumina Inc & Grail Inc, FTC v Hackensack Meridian Health & Englewood Healthcare
Acted for a public hospital system in an enforcement action by the US Department of Justice alleging unlawful restraints of trade, which resolved by settlement – US v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority