Tyler Brown

Tyler acts for clients in a wide variety of commercial and civil disputes, including contractual disputes, contentious trust issues, judicial review applications, construction disputes, insolvency matters and debt recovery actions.  He has represented clients in both the High Court and District Court, as well as in arbitrations and mediations.

He also specialises in insurance law and has been involved in numerous residential and commercial insurance claims arising out of the Canterbury earthquakes, including defective workmanship claims for failed repairs.  In addition to dealing with complex commercial insurance claims, Tyler has advised bodies corporate in respect of the additional complexities that arise under the Unit Titles Act 2010.  He has represented insureds in proceedings under the High Court Earthquake List, in the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal and through the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service.

Tyler graduated from the University of Canterbury in 2011 with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Taxation & Accounting).  He joined Saunders Robinson Brown in 2009.

Notable experience

• Acting for the beneficiaries of a family trust in High Court proceedings against the trustees for negligence and breach of fiduciary duties in relation to the sale of a multi-million dollar landholding.

• Acting for a national charity in opposing a High Court application seeking to vary the terms of a charitable trust deed (Re Trevor Wilson Trustee Limited [2022] NZHC 2118).

• Acting as instructing solicitor and junior counsel in defending judicial review proceedings brought in relation to decisions made under the Resource Management Act 1991, and successfully resisting an application for an interim injunction (Thompson v Invercargill City Council [2020] NZHC 21 & [2020] NZHC 174).

• Acting for numerous policyholders in relation to insurance claims arising out of the Canterbury earthquakes, including associated defective workmanship claims for failed repairs.

• Successfully negotiating the settlement of a major resort body corporate's multi-million dollar material damage claim arising from the Canterbury earthquakes.

• Acting for builders and other contractors in relation to construction disputes.

• Successfully representing a group of investors in a failed finance company opposing a High Court application brought by the liquidators (Graham v Arena Capital Ltd (in liq) [2016] NZHC 194).

• Bringing negligence proceedings against a client's accountants for incorrect advice as to the client's tax residency and the application of the Double Taxation Relief (United Kingdom) Order 1984.

• Successfully negotiating the reinstatement of an insurance policy avoided by the insurer as a result of alleged non-disclosure by the insured.

• Representing a body corporate in negligence proceedings against its manager, insurance broker and valuer for failing to correctly assess the replacement value of body corporate property for insurance purposes.

• Acting for various business clients and retail landlords in debt recovery proceedings.

Affiliations

• Associate Member of the Arbitrators' and Mediators' Institute of New Zealand (AAMINZ)

• Member of the New Zealand Insurance Law Association.

• Member of the Institute of Directors New Zealand (MInstD).

• Member of the Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association of New Zealand (RITANZ).

• Member of The Law Association of New Zealand.

• Member of the New Zealand Law Society.