KEY POINTS:
Paul Dale's client list includes celebrity property developer David Henderson, former maverick politician John Tamihere, and failed finance company Bridgecorp.
Infomercial queen Suzanne Paul and developer Andrew Krukzeiner are seen leaving his modern Chancery St chambers as the Business Herald arrives.
He has teed off with Michael Campbell - a treat organised for him as a thank you for some free legal advice.
But the affable barrister's face clouds over when discussing the small investors caught up in the Blue Chip saga.
To pay a $100,000 deposit on a yet-to-be-built apartment to a $100 company that owns no land may be naive, but that's not the way the Blue Chip concept was sold, Dale says.
"These aren't people that are greedy, from what I can see. These are people who were the subject of cold-calling. They were presented with an investment that seemed to be safe, based on valuations from a very sophisticated and slick marketing machine."
Given this country has no capital gains tax and the property market was booming, why wouldn't you invest, he asks.
Dale and his colleague Daniel Grove are acting for burned Blue Chip investors largely out of the goodness of their hearts at present.
"Obviously there'll be some work out of it, I guess we'll get paid by others at some stage. But, you know, somebody has to help them."
Investors affected by the 19 Blue Chip-related companies that have gone into liquidation fall into three categories, Dale says. Those owed money in outstanding rent; those who have purchased and paid a deposit for an incomplete development; and investors who have entered into joint-venture agreements.
Dale says he is being contacted by disaffected investors "hourly", but is telling most there is no point in spending money on him at this stage - rather, he says, they should co-ordinate their claims. "Unless they're unified it's hard to see that it's going to be cost effective."
He says he is about to issue proceedings for some investors, and when statutory demands made against Blue Chip New Zealand Ltd expire in a few days he will move to have the company wound up.
He and Grove are also gathering information. They have devised a questionnaire and sent it out to a large number of investors, with the aim of building up a picture of what needs to be done.
But the lanky barrister expresses frustration at the pace of action over Blue Chip. He is concerned Blue Chip New Zealand is not one of the companies in liquidation.
He refers to weekend coverage of alleged burglaries at Blue Chip offices.
Dale has written to both the Companies Office and liquidator Jeff Meltzer urging action to protect vital documents. He has talked of Blue Chip being put into statutory management, but says that's only because it would be a good way of securing records, contacting investors and co-ordinating an operation to untangle the complex web of companies and property deals.
The barrister is hoping things will become clearer once the liquidators' initial report is out.
However he will be forced to cool his heels. Yesterday liquidators Meltzer, Arron Heath and Lloyd Hayward applied to the High Court for extra time, saying the structure of the Blue Chip-related companies was so elaborate it would take much longer than initially expected to sort out the businesses.
Dale says he doesn't know if the New Zealand authorities have enough teeth to act.
He says he has been waiting to hear something from Blue Chip to give him comfort. "But on the face of this it looks like a wholesale disaster. This is going to lead to huge losses by people who can't afford it."
