Boutique firms dominate New Zealand Law Awards
By Craig Sisterson
SMALL AND specialised were the stars last night, as boutique firms from across the country scooped many of the distinctive Jenny Smith-created art glass trophies at the 2011 New Zealand Law Awards™. On a glittering night celebrating the best of the best of New Zealand’s legal profession, as judged by clients themselves, this year it was mostly law firms and lawyers specialising in particular areas of practice that found themselves onstage accepting the accolades and acclaim at Auckland’s impressive new Viaduct Events Centre.
Against a stunning backdrop of the Auckland skyline and harbour, MC John Campbell welcomed more than 300 top lawyers opened the evening by praising the important work carried out by lawyers across the country every day. Both Campbell and NZLawyer Managing Editor Darise Bennington highlighted the dedication of lawyers and law firms in Christchurch, who have continued to provide their clients with excellent service during the most trying of times, when their own offices, staff, and homes have been so badly affected by the Canterbury earthquakes and ongoing aftershocks.
A special thing about the Law Awards, said Campbell, is that they reflect the attendees’ work with their clients. Unlike many other industry awards, the Law Awards are client voted and client-centric. The various Law Awards celebrate the work of lawyers in the context of the people who are most important: clients, employees, and the community. “You guys are here because your clients want you to be here,” said Campbell. “Isn’t that fantastic?”
Ron Pol, Managing Director of Team Factors, noted that every finalist in the room had already got through the nomination process ahead of hundreds of their peers, to rise to the top of the legal profession, as viewed solely by clients. “So, whether or not you win, I congratulate every nominee and every finalist for the client perspective and dedicated client passion that has brought you into this group.”
Such passion and care for clients was evident from the very first award of the evening, with a surprised Kay Hoult from Niemand Peebles Hoult, a small two-partner firm based in Hamilton, securing the 2011 Family Law Award. One client voter praised the time, care, and expertise Hoult and her team put into a case. “They listened to me and made the whole process easy for me to understand. They are brilliant at what they do. I just can’t say enough good stuff about them as lawyers and as caring people.”
Hoult, clearly moved by the client feedback, said that such things couldn’t be achieved by one person alone, so she shared the accolade with her business partner Johan Niemand and their small team, and thanked her husband for his support. A great night got even better for Niemand Peebles Hoult, however, as later in the evening, the whole firm was recognised with two premium awards: Team Factors Boutique Law Firm of the Year and Niche Recruiting Specialists Regional/Suburban Law Firm of the Year. The small firm’s care and client focus was again underlined by the voter comment read out for the latter award. “This firm is something really special,” said one client. “They care, they are professional, they know their stuff, they seem to really like their clients, they never fail to get back to you; they are quite simply fantastic.”
The bright start to the evening for boutique firms shone even brighter as the night wore on, as nine of the eleven Specialist Awards were won by lawyers and firms who concentrate on particular areas of law. North South Environmental Law picked up the Resource Management and Environment Law Award, with one client voter noting that they had worked with numerous environmental law firms over many decades, and North South Environmental Law stood out “for their combination of legal excellence, rapid grasp of significant issues, and sound strategic advice”. Founding director Rob Makgill said the firm was really grateful for such support, and that his team had a real passion for environmental law, making such an accolade “icing on the cake” for what they do.
Specialist tax lawyer Denham Martin scooped the CCH Tax Law Award before boutique Auckland firm Lowndes Associates won the first of its two awards of the night: the Hays Employment Law Award. Howard Thomas accepted the trophy on the firm’s behalf, noting he wasn’t “Lowndes, but one of the Associates”, before getting one of the biggest laughs of the night by referencing the ‘ghost chips’ ad as he paused to “internalise a very complicated problem” in his head while deciding what to say. Shortly thereafter, Thomas was back onstage accepting the SLS Litigation and Dispute Resolution Award. One client voter said of Lowndes Associates, “By just doing things a little different and by going the extra mile, they deserve to be voted the best”.
In between Lowndes Associates’ awards, Christchurch firm Cavell Leitch Law was praised for giving “excellent service… over a long period during difficult times” when winning the Marsh Insurance Law Award, and James & Wells Intellectual Property scooped the Canon New Zealand Intellectual Property Law Award for the third year in a row. Said one voter: “I have found all representatives of this firm to be consistent, professional, and enthusiastic in offering support and very efficient. A pleasure to do business with, every time.”
Boutique firms and Law Awards stalwarts Queen City Law and Chen Palmer continued their ongoing domination of their specialist categories, once again winning the Prendos Property & Construction Law Award and the LexisNexis Public Law Award, respectively, before a new face to the Law Awards, Dunedin-based two-partner firm Van Aart Sycamore, made a big splash by winning the Fujitsu InfinityLaw Corporate and Commercial Law Award ahead of large firms Bell Gully and Simpson Grierson, mid-sized firms Cavell Leitch Law and Lane Neave Lawyers, and dual winner Lowndes Associates. A delighted Mike Van Aart said winning the award was a real highlight for the firm, which acts for a range of clients across the country from its Dunedin base, and that they were “eternally grateful” to their clients.
On a night dominated by the small and the specialised, the large commercial firms finally got a look-in with the final specialist award: Simpson Grierson winning the Banking and Finance Law Award. “It is indeed a great pleasure to receive this award,” said Simpson Grierson partner Peter Ferguson, who accepted on behalf of the firm described by one client as providing “consistent, practical, commercial and focused advice”.
After a pleasant interlude for music, mingling, and the main course (succulent duck and beef dishes), the evening continued with the presentation of the premium award categories, starting with the Large Law Firm of the Year category. Presenter Jen Armstrong of LexisNexis Pacific, whose accent gave away her US heritage, praised the camaraderie and sense of community amongst the New Zealand legal profession. When Duncan Cotterill and Simpson Grierson, who between them have won this award the past three years, were announced as runners-up, it became clear a new winner would be crowned. But who? Hailed for client service which was “more than commercial; it was personally given and created an amazing atmosphere”, Kensington Swan took home the 2011 trophy.
Tauranga firm Cooney Lees Morgan won the ASB Mid-size Law Firm of the Year Award for the second year in a row, with clients praising it for combining “large company expertise with small company service”.
As the awards part of the evening headed to a close, for the first time in history there was a tie for an award, with Lane Neave Lawyers (50-100 employees) and Meredith Connell (100+ employees) sharing the supreme award for 2011 Legal Personnel Employer of Choice. Timaru firm RSM Law Limited won the category for firms with less than 50 employees, with one staff member calling the firm “the most exceptional employer” of their career.
For the supreme winners, one voter called Meredith Connell “the most diverse and accepting firm” they’d worked for, noting the partnership was approachable and full of integrity. Lane Neave was praised for keeping staff fully informed following the earthquakes, and offering counselling and providing support for traumatised employees. “I feel that most firms can look after their staff when there are no crises, but the measure of a firm is how they deal with their staff when the chips were down,” said one employee voter. “They were fantastic.”
For the second year in a row, a government department legal team took out the ComplyWith In-house Counsel Team of the Year Award, with The Treasury scooping the 2011 award after Housing New Zealand won in 2010, and was runner-up this year. The Treasury’s legal team had “provided a consistently high level of quality service and legal advice despite being under enormous pressure” and the team was always “incredibly professional, helpful, and reliable,” said one voter.
After family law barrister Vivienne Crawshaw put an exclamation point on the evening for specialist lawyers by winning the Blue Star Group Barrister of the Year Award (with Miriam Dean QC and Nicholas Till QC as runners-up), the formal part of the evening came to a close with the presentation of the College of Law Community Service in Law Awards, which recognise those who have contributed pro bono or not-for-profit legal advice or services to community groups or who have participated and applied their legal skills in voluntary humanitarian work. The judging panel was once again extremely impressed by the calibre of the finalists, which this year were divided into individual and group categories.
Tauranga lawyer Denise Arnold, a partner at Lyon O’Neale Arnold Lawyers, received one of the biggest ovations of the night as she was presented with the 2011 College of Law Community Service in Law Award – Individual for her ongoing tremendous work to help bring about change for young girls and women, and entire communities, in Cambodia. Arnold established the Cambodia Charitable Trust (www.cambodiatrust.org.nz), which aims to assist the Cambodian people from the trap of extreme poverty, to raise international awareness of human rights issues, and to provide Cambodian children with housing, health, and education. The judges noted that more recently Arnold’s efforts have extended even further, “working for and with the lawyers of Cambodia as they seek to effect change, to work within the rule of law, and to have a voice within the international legal community”.
The College of Law Community Service in Law Award – Group went to Community Law Canterbury, which was praised not only for the laudable work it had been doing for many years – it was described as “the mainstay of providing legal advice without charge to the community in Canterbury for many years” – but in particular for its response to the recent Christchurch earthquakes. Despite losing access to its building in February, Community Law Canterbury continued to offer its services, and extended itself even further, under the most trying conditions, to support its community.
Said one nominator, “Not only have they provided advice to the community members on the many and varied (and tricky) legal problems arising from the earthquakes, but they have assisted in building the capacity of other community agencies by acting as a focal point for expertise in earthquake-related legal issues. They have drawn on the wider expertise in employment, insurance, tenancy and many other areas of law that exist in the legal profession and acted as an effective conduit for that expertise by way of seminars and workshops hosted for other community workers. This has been an essential role.”
The final awards were a fitting reminder on the night of the potential importance and impact of the service that lawyers all around the country provide to their clients and communities.
NZLawyer extra, edition 38, 11 November 2011
