Celia Brownlee

L18 AIG Building
41 Shortland Street, Auckland
PO Box 304
Auckland 1140
celia.brownlee@lfmdisputes.com
m +64 22 314 3800
p +64 9 394 7934
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Celia is a Senior Associate in our specialist litigation and arbitration practice, with a strong grounding in business and finance.  In addition to her commercial litigation experience, Celia comes from a tax consulting background, giving her an instinctive grasp of the commercial and financial stakes involved in our clients’ disputes. She has acted in complex, high-value matters, including class actions, complex commercial litigations and director duties proceedings, as well as regulatory matters. She is proficient in Mandarin and has lived in China.

Celia has an exceptional record in commercial mediation — having won the ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition and been awarded the 2025 AMINZ Consensual Dispute Resolution Scholarship — and is well placed to help clients find the most effective path to resolution. She is the recipient of numerous other awards and prizes, including 1st place at the World ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition, 1st place in the M.A.D.E. Real World Economics Competition, 1st in Course for Economic Analysis of Public and Private Law, 1st in Course for Tax Law and 1st in Course for Game Theory and Economic Applications, and is a Past Chair and a Past President of the University of Auckland Economics Society. 

• Representative cases

  • Pharma Joint Venture Litigation: Representing at trial a foreign joint venture partner in proceedings against a leading dual NZX and ASX-listed pharmaceutical company in relation to an orphan drug business.

  • Infrastructure concession litigation: Representing a leading international infrastructure investor in litigation arising out of the high-profile termination of a long-term infrastructure concession and associated multi-hundred million-dollar compensation payment rights.

  • Director duties: Representing a director of a significant property development company in proceedings alleging breaches of director duties and related claims following on from an $85 million arbitration award.

  • CBL Corporation Shareholder Class Actions: Assisting in the representation of four former directors of CBL Corp in two parallel shareholder class actions proceedings, funded by separate third party litigation funders, arising out of the $747m collapse of Dual NZX and ASX-listed re-insurance company, CBL Corporation.

  • CBL FMA Proceedings: Assisting in the representation of four former directors of CBL Corp in proceedings brought by the Financial Markets Authority alleging breaches of continuous disclosure obligations and fair dealing requirements under the Financial Markets Conduct Act.

  • CBL Insurance Director Duties Proceedings: Assisting in the representation of four former directors of CBL Corp in proceedings brought by the liquidators of CBL Insurance alleging breaches of director duties.

  • Commercial leases: Assisting a leading commercial landlord in various matters to enforce leases over commercial premises and related enforcement proceedings.

• Qualifications

  • LLB (Hons), BCom (Economics)

  • Previously a Senior Tax Consultant at Deloitte, advising various multinational organisations on a range of tax issues, including transfer pricing, international tax and corporate income tax, advising on the tax implications of restructures and the application of New Zealand’s tax treaties

  • Celia is admitted to practice in New Zealand