"If you want someone in court with you, he is the guy"
Chambers Asia Pacific

Murray is a very experienced commercial litigator and insolvency specialist with extensive knowledge and experience on all matters related to corporate and personal insolvency. He regularly acts for liquidators, receivers, directors and debtors. Murray speaks at specialist conferences and was a founding author of Heath and Whale on Insolvency.

He also successfully conducts general commercial litigation and achieves pragmatic and cost-effective results for his clients. He has appeared as senior counsel in over 180 hearings.

He acted for the liquidators of CBL Insurance Limited (in liquidation) on successful claims against its directors and others. He also acted for the directors of Arrow International (NZ) Limited (in liquidation) in navigating a successful outcome. He has acted for the receivers of several finance companies. He successfully appeared as senior counsel for the receivers of Bridgecorp in New Zealand’s highest court, the Supreme Court in Steigrad v BFSL. This important decision received international attention and confirmed that directors had a charge over insurance monies which had priority over a director's defence costs. On behalf of its receivers, Murray pursued the auditors of collapsed New Zealand finance company OPI Limited (In Receivership). Murray also successfully settled a claim against the insurer of Nathan Finance's directors.

Murray has been named as a Leading Insolvency & Restructuring Barrister – New Zealand 2022 by Doyles Guide, 2024 Best Lawyer for Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation and has been rated as in the top tier of insolvency lawyers in all of the other major directories. 

Murray was at Bell Gully for over 20 years and was head of its litigation and insolvency departments.  Earlier in his career, Murray spent three years with Clifford Chance in London, where he specialised in banking and insolvency litigation.

 Murray practices at the independent bar and can take instructions directly.