Ford Sumner Lawyers | Experts in Corporate, Commercial, Dispute Resolution and Employment Law

A tight team with big capability

Who we are

Ford Sumner’s focus on building strong relationships is what makes us special. Our clients trust us to get it right; because we do, many of them have worked with us since we began.

Our team collaborates to provide expert, personal and individualised service. We’re responsive, with a can-do attitude, and we always bring our ‘A’ game.

Find out more

Expertise

How can we help you?

Commercial

Whether your business needs advice on terms and conditions of supply, or agency, distribution, outsourcing or licensing agreements, we deal with all manner of commercial contracts. Read more

Corporate

Wherever your company is at in its lifecycle, we have the corporate law experts to support you. Read more

Corporate insolvency & turnaround

With expertise and experience in all aspects of corporate insolvency, our insolvency team delivers tailored, commercial advice. Read more

Medico Legal and Health Care Law

We’ve represented clients in a wide range of medico legal and dispute resolution matters, as well as investigations and disciplinary proceedings. Read more

Insurance

We provide advice on all aspects of insurance law, our experienced team acts on disputed claims, and provides regulatory and compliance advice. Read more

Dispute Resolution

With a focus on quality and a pragmatic approach, we deliver outstanding solutions by combining in-depth commercial knowledge with technical excellence.

Mediation

Mediation is a safe and effective way to get to the heart of an issue and to explore resolution options before getting entrenched in costly battles. Read more

Employment & HR

Whether you’re an employer or employee, when you want employment advice, you need approachable experts you can trust. Read more

Investigations

When unbiased and legally robust workplace investigations are needed, our record speaks for itself. Read more

Property & Construction

In a constantly changing legislative environment, property and leasing can be challenging. Read more

Environment & Regulatory

With environmental and land use development law becoming more and more complex, our specialist team cut through the red tape, to find solutions to your problems. Read more

Family

We assist clients through this delicate area of law and focus on achieving fair, appropriate and expedient outcomes for our clients. Read more

OUR PEOPLE

Meet our team

Our team’s big enough to be experts across many fields, and small enough to know and care about each other, and our clients.

Find out more

Automated Documents

What does our legal document suite and automation software mean for our clients? Agreements to You is able to produce high-quality legal documentation in a shorter time – and with greater accuracy and less cost.

Find out more

Latest legal news

New High Court Decision on Right Of Way Easements In a recent High Court case, an order was made compelling the owner of a private driveway to allow their neighbour to install a new gate on that driveway. This decision, made in response to a dispute between Ruby & Rata Ltd (“Ruby”) and the Eagle Trust, highlights the importance of carefully reviewing the record of title for a property prior to the purchase of land and clarifies the rights of grantees of rights of way to install new entry points as these may be reasonable for use by a grantee. Link

In a groundbreaking move, the Commerce Commission has filed charges against two construction companies and their directors. Upholding Fair Competition: First Prosecution of Criminal Cartel Conduct in New Zealand Link

Shaking Grounds and Safety Obligations: Navigating Earthquake-Prone Buildings with Legal Insight When considering next steps for addressing earthquake-prone buildings, building owners must be aware of the obligations they have under not only the Building Act 2004 (“the Building Act”), but also as Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (“the Health and Safety at Work Act”), particularly when the building is occupied. Link

Bulletproof your Business: Tips for Protecting Growth and Success As you develop your business, it's important to protect yourself and your business for successful growth. Tips we discuss in this article include choosing the right business structure, safeguarding business and personal assets, and documenting business plans early. These steps will help lay the right business foundation, safeguard your interests and prepare you for the unexpected. Link

Retention Money Revolution: New Zealand's Construction Industry Braces for Game-Changing Amendments from 5 October 2023 Members of New Zealand’s construction industry should familiarise themselves with upcoming changes to the retention money regime in the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA). Link

The Importance of Understanding your Privacy Obligations as a Business Owner and Employer If you’re a business owner, of any size, it is more than likely you hold private information on file. This private information may be in relation to client and customer details or held on staff files. This article serves as a friendly reminder for all business owners to ensure they are complying with the Privacy Act 2020 (“the Privacy Act”) and minimising any risk of a privacy breach. Link

Demystifying Separation - Looking Forward In the final article in our Demystifying Separation series, we explore what you can do to protect your interest in the future, and more. Link

Demystifying Separation - Formalising Separation In the fourth article in our demystifying separation series, we explore the formalisation of separation. Link

Demystifying Separation - Arrangements For Children And Safety And Financial Needs

In the third article in our demystifying separation series, we explore the arrangements for children, safety, and financial needs when separating.

Link

The Year ahead: Is 2023 the Year of Restructure? The economic outlook for the remainder of 2023 for New Zealand looks challenging. The Reserve Bank has just raised the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points to 4.75% which means the main trading banks will shortly follow suit with similar increases, all aimed at tackling the high inflation rates that persist. Link

Demystifying Separation: Investments, Gifts And Business Interests In the second article in our Demystifying Separation series, discover how investments, gifts and business interests are impacted during separation Link

Redundancy – Don’t Jump the Gun!

The Employment Relations Authority’s recent decision in Buckingham v St John (“Buckingham”) serves as reminder for employers to ensure their redundancy policies and procedures are sound.

What started with some “minor procedural inadequacies” on behalf of employer St John led to an unfortunate misunderstanding with employee, Ms Buckingham, regarding the redundancy package set out in her employment agreement.

Link

Guidance for Employers and Employees During the Resignation Process

After watching Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern step down from her role as Prime Minister in January, we considered it an appropriate time to provide some guidance to both employees and employers about the resignation process in New Zealand.

Resignation is a process where an employee voluntarily terminates their employment agreement with their employer. While resignations are a common and relatively straightforward process across New Zealand workplaces, there are some important considerations that both employees and employers should take into account.

Link

Demystifying Separation: Our Home, And Other Property Who will remain the family home? How will we split our property? Do I need to get a valuation of the family home or other assets? All this and more in the first article in our Demystifying Separation Series. Link

Demystifying separation: What Do I Need To Know? Demystifying Separation - A series from Ford Sumner Lawyers Link

Fair Pay Agreements Bill to Take Effect Very Soon

The widely disputed Fair Pay Agreements Bill (“FPA Bill”) has been passed and will take effect on 1 December 2022. When it takes effect, the Act will provide a framework for collective bargaining for fair pay agreements (“FPA’s”) across all New Zealand industries or occupations, rather than just between unions and particular employers.

Link

Lease Renewals – Not as simple as you might think… A right of renewal provides a commercial tenant with the option to enter into a new lease with a landlord when the current lease expires. If a tenant fails to give notice of intention to renew the lease, the risks can be significant. This was the situation in the recent High Court case of Storageone Kapiti (2012) Ltd v Sharja Ltd. Link

Practical Ways of Recovering a Debt: Letters of Demand From time to time you may need to take formal steps to recover a debt owed to you in the course of providing your services. Link

Recent US Court case Zuru v Glassdoor serves as wake up call for New Zealand Employers The California-based website Glassdoor Incorporated (“Glassdoor”) recently lost a case brought against it by New Zealand-based company ZURU Toys New Zealand Limited (“Zuru”). Personal information surrounding anonymous reviews must now be released from Glassdoor to Zuru to allow them to pursue a defamation claim against suspected present and past employees who expressed their resentment of the company online. Link

Consultation, a ‘must’ for Employers when directing employees to take annual leave The Employment Court’s recent decision in E Tū Incorporated v Carter Holt Harvey LVL Limited (“Carter Holt Harvey”) has confirmed it is essential that employers consult with employees before giving annual leave directions. Link

Go to legal updates

Our Community

Connecting with each other is vital to all of us, and at Ford Sumner our community’s central to who we are.

Find out more

Our Community

The Whitireia Foundation - Scholarship

Other Charities and Community Organisations

Contact Us

If you would like to discuss more, share feedback or ask any questions, please get in touch. We’re here to help.

Email us