With vacancies at record highs and construction and compliance costs surging, commercial leasing has become one of the most volatile areas of property law. Every clause now carries heightened risk, from rent arrears, subleasing disputes and fit-out obligations to GST treatments under Inland Revenue scrutiny and aggressive surrender negotiations. Join leading experts to dissect the contract traps and financial exposures driving today’s disputes, from drafting and development agreements to tax implications and enforcement. Gain the insight and strategies you need to protect your clients, negotiate from a position of strength and avoid costly missteps in a market where one overlooked clause can make all the difference.

Presenters

Laura Monahan, Director, McCaw Lewis
Laura leads a team of talented lawyers in the firm’s commercial law area. Laura has extensive experience in commercial law, and advises clients on a wide variety of business matters including limited partnerships, ownership arrangements including shareholders’ agreements and share sales and purchases, negotiating and preparing commercial contracts, commercial property matters, commercial lease arrangements, Financial Markets Conduct Act issues, Overseas Investment Act matters, construction contracts and business sales and purchases. More recently, Laura has moved towards particular specialisation in the area of Māori commercial matters, assisting iwi clients to establish post settlement governance entities and make arrangements to best manage iwi assets. She enjoys working with our commercial clients to help them meet their business goals, priding herself on keeping things simple and understandable. Prior to joining McCaw Lewis, Laura worked in the corporate and commercial team at a large Auckland law firm, before moving to London to work as in-house legal counsel for a healthcare company. Giving back to the community she grew up in is important to Laura, and she is on the boards of the Waikato Family Centre Trust and the Waikato Diocesan School for Girls Old Girls Association Committee. She has recently established a local networking group for women in business in the Waikato together with Stacey Martin from BNZ Hamilton and Jan Gatley from PwC Hamilton. Outside of the workplace, she likes to spend time with her husband and two young daughters, keep fit at the gym or along the Waikato River trail, and have weekly Sunday barbecues with her sisters and parents. Laura was raised in Hamilton, returning here to join the firm in 2012, and was appointed as a Director of the firm in 2020.

Neil Mistry, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
Neil specialises in all aspects of commercial property including commercial leasing, development agreements, easements, subdivisions, and acquisitions and sales. Neil helps his clients with buying, selling, developing and leasing property, including complex arrangements such as malls, airports, and infrastructure developments. From reviewing and drafting complex development agreements to assisting with simpler day-to-day property issues, Neil works closely with his clients to put their priorities first, from the very beginning of a project all the way to completion. Neil enjoys complex transactions, with a knack for describing complex issues in understandable terms. Neil’s clients include emergency services, private equity firms, property developers and infrastructure providers.

Fiona Roydhouse, Associate Director, EY
Fiona is an associate director in the tax team at EY specialising in the property sector. Fiona has over 12 years’ experience work in tax working in both New Zealand and the UK during this time. Mostly recently in New Zealand, Fiona has worked with a range of listed and unlisted property funds, as well as private businesses and individuals on all tax matters including large transactions, property acquisitions, lease negotiations and general matters including compliance.


Tina Hwang, Director, Queen City Law
Tina Hwang is a Director and is the Leader of QCL’s large and award winning Property Team. Tina is also Co-Convenor of The Law Association (previously ADLS) Property Law Committee and member of The Law Association Property Disputes Committee. Tina mainly practises in property, construction and litigation. She has deep and wide experience in virtually all aspects of property law and property development and has been involved in some of New Zealand’s largest property projects. Tina has also developed expertise in construction issues and has presented papers at many New Zealand law seminars on property and construction law. She contributes regularly to the Builders & Contractors Magazine. Tina also speaks fluent Korean. Being client-centric Tina has also taken on numerous employment cases (both employer and employee) and the consequent mediation and settlements. Tina regularly appears in Tribunals and Courts. Clients love working with Tina as she is an excellent communicator, works very efficiently and keeps clients fully informed.

Charlotte Webber, Partner, Anderson Lloyd
Charlotte specialises in litigation and dispute resolution, with particular expertise in personal and corporate insolvency, debt recovery, and security enforcement. Charlotte also has expertise in dispute resolution between directors, shareholders and trustees, and disputes involving negligent valuations and commercial leasing. Charlotte also advises clients in relation to insurance disputes and disputes under the Construction Contracts Act 2002. Charlotte has appeared in Court at all levels in New Zealand, including in the Supreme Court. Charlotte is a member of the Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association of New Zealand (RITANZ) and the New Zealand Insurance Law Association.