He practiced as a common law partner in the Christchurch firm of
Wynn Williams & Co. He was President of the Canterbury District Law Society in 1984 and a council member of the New Zealand Law Society from 1982–1984. In 1986, he was appointed to the
High Court. He was promoted to the
Court of Appeal on 1 June 1997, and appointed to the
Privy Council a year later. In the Court of Appeal he was a member of the court that said the
Maori Land Court had jurisdiction to decide the status of the foreshore and seabed in
Ngati Apa v Attorney-General. From 2004 the Privy Council was replaced as New Zealand’s highest appellate court by a
Supreme Court of New Zealand, with the passage of the
Supreme Court Act 2003. Attorney General
Margaret Wilson was tasked with appointing the entire bench simultaneously, She announced that the appointments would be based on merit and seniority. This meant on 1 January 2004, Tipping became one of the initial members of the new Supreme Court of New Zealand as the most senior Justices on the Court of Appeal were appointed to the new Court. Tipping retired from the
Supreme Court on 17 August 2012. On 20 September 2012 Tipping was appointed an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court. He retired as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court in August 2017 upon reaching the statutory retirement age. In the
2006 New Year Honours, Tipping was appointed a
Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of New Zealand. In the
2009 Special Honours he accepted re-designation as a
Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit following the re-introduction of titular honours by the New Zealand government. ==References==