His knowledge of all aspects of employment law, along with his sense of humour and ability to provide personalised support, inspired confidence among members that their employment problems would be sorted, OSEA chief executive Virginia Nicholls said.
Mrs Nicholls was delighted he had been named a finalist in the In-House Lawyers Association of New Zealand (ILANZ) Greenwood Roche private sector in-house lawyer of the year award. ILANZ is a section of the New Zealand Law Society.
The awards would be presented at a function in Wellington on Friday night and his fellow category finalists were the Bank of New Zealand’s executive chief general counsel Hayley Cassidy and Spark New Zealand general counsel Melissa Anastasiou. Silver Fern Farms’ legal team was a finalist in the Artemis executive recruitment in-house innovation award.
Mr Brown was the legal team leader and senior solicitor at OSEA and one of his strengths was mediation. In his seven years with the organisation, he had settled all but one matter.
“It is wonderful to see David receiving the acknowledgement he deserves for his tireless work to support our members, a role that has been even more crucial over the past year as businesses have encountered considerable hardship and uncertainty due to Covid-19 restrictions," Mrs Nicholls said.
As part of his role, Mr Browne could regularly be found behind a lectern in Invercargill, Alexandra, Queenstown, Wanaka, Oamaru, or in-house at the OSEA offices in South Dunedin, delivering the employment law training programmes he has helped to develop during his tenure.
“If someone had approached me when I was in law school and asked me who I would choose to work for employer or employee I would have said the employee, because I would have thought they were the underdog.
"I’ve learned that employers can also be the underdog. Employers deserve a lot more credit than they receive, as many take financial risks and in turn provide opportunities for their employees to grow and thrive in their business," he said.
There was a huge need for employment law support for small and large business owners, he said.
Mr Browne was also an acclaimed photographer and one of his works had been purchased by Te Papa. Last week, he won first prize at the Otago Art Society Awards, and has previously been shortlisted for the National Contemporary Art Award, the Wallace Arts Trust Awards and the Cleveland National Art Awards.
