Martin advises and acts on a broad range of civil disputes, in particular commercial, property, insurance and professional liability matters including class action litigation. He is ranked in the Dispute Resolution and Insurance sections of the leading Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 directories. Recent directory commentary includes “a pleasure to deal with, very responsive, commercial and ruthlessly efficient”, “a fine legal analytical mind and a good sense of strategy as well”, a “very, very good operator” and “good at getting on with it and getting the job done.”.
Martin has been a partner of the firm since 2013. He appears for clients at trials and in other defended hearings and appeals, as well as in less formal dispute resolution forums such as mediation. As well as his work for commercial clients, Martin also acts for the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society on public interest litigation, and for Lawyers for Climate Action NZ.
Martin regularly presents continuing professional development seminars for the Auckland District Law Society and is a member of the New Zealand Law Society’s interview panel for lawyers seeking approval to practise on their own account.
LLB (Hons) / BSc (Victoria) LLM (Cambridge)
Admitted to the Bar in 2003
acting for a major commercial landlord on various leasing and property disputes
acting for the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated on public interest appeals in respect of environmental matters
acting for a listed issuer in defending a derivative action claim brought by the minority shareholder of a subsidiary
regularly acting for liability insurers on indemnity issues and defending claims against their insureds
acting for a major bank in defending a litigation funded class action brought by investors following the collapse of Ross Asset Management, a financial adviser revealed to have been running New Zealand’s largest Ponzi scheme
acting for a major bank in defending a litigation funded class action brought by investors following the collapse of Ross Asset Management, a financial adviser revealed to have been running New Zealand’s largest Ponzi scheme
acting for a major commercial landlord on a number of property and leasing disputes across its portfolio
acting for a creditor pursuing a security claim under a deed of guarantee and security following the Supreme Court judgment in Bathurst Resources Ltd v L&M Coal Holdings Ltd
acting for hoteliers challenging Auckland Council’s Accommodation Provider Targeted Rate
acting for professionals in actual or threatened funded class action claims relating to corporate collapses
acting for a major bank facing a litigation-funded class action brought by investors following the collapse of Ross Asset Management, a financial adviser revealed to have been operating a Ponzi scheme
acting for a corporate trustee defending a litigation-funded claim brought by the receivers of Capital+Merchant Finance Ltd following its collapse owing investors around $170m
advising on issues arising out of the recent Auckland cyclone events
acting for Tower Insurance in advising on and defending a large number of litigated and otherwise disputed claims for property damage caused by the Canterbury earthquakes, including through High Court and appellate litigation and in proceedings in the Canterbury Earthquake Insurance Tribunal and the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service
regularly acting for liability insurers on indemnity issues and defending claims against their insureds
advising on the response of business interruption insurance policies to losses caused by Covid-19
advising an insured party on one of the largest contracts works insurance claims in recent history
regularly acting for insured professionals such as lawyers, accountants and building surveyors in defending sensitive and high value claims and procuring their resolution on a confidential basis
acting for a major commercial landlord on a number of property and leasing disputes across its portfolio
acting for a local government organisation seeking to claim from Mobil Oil the substantial cost of cleaning up contaminated land on the Auckland waterfront
