Legal Articles & Publications

By: Sarah Harris

Insurance fraud has been around since insurance began. It is often perceived as a ‘victimless crime’, where the only ‘losers’ are big insurance companies that can afford the loss.

By: Michelle Mehlhopt, Jesse Aimer

In a report released Wednesday 29 July, the Resource Management Review Panel (Panel) recommended major changes to New Zealand’s resource management system.

By: Bethany Entwistle

New Zealand’s highly anticipated Privacy Act will commence on 1 December 2020, replacing the Privacy Act 1993.

By: Kate Dickson, Mike Doesburg

The Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 came into force this week. The amendments will have significant implications for local authorities, particularly in the freshwater and climate change space.

By: Jenny Turner

Lockdown and the COVID-19 global pandemic has seen us all spending more of our time at home.

By: Amanda Douglas

The landscape is changing, with medicinal cannabis now legalised and an upcoming referendum testing the appetite for the legalisation of personal use of cannabis. So, what is the impact on drug testing in the workplace, and the systems that employers already have in place?

By: Angela Brown

From the 1 July 2019 landlords were required to meet the new rules for the healthy home standards that related to insulation, ventilation, heating, moisture ingress, draught stopping and drainage.

By: Shane Campbell

The current James Hardie litigation concerns allegations that certain exterior cladding products manufactured by the James Hardie group were defective, which defects are alleged to have caused moisture ingress and associated damages.

By: Richard Hargreaves

There is currently a trend amongst plaintiffs to commence proceedings against building inspectors personally in defective building cases. This is only appropriate in very specific circumstances.

By: Sarah Harris

The recent case of Burcher v Auckland Standards Committee No 5 [2020] NZHC 43 raises again the question: when is a lawyer not a lawyer?

By: Emily Walton

If you bought an EQC repaired house after the Canterbury Earthquakes and before 15 August 2019 and you have concerns about the quality of the repairs, the clock is ticking. You only have until 14 August 2020 to register your interest in an EQC ex gratia payment for repair costs.

By: Amanda Douglas

On 14 March 2020, as part of its budget announcement, the Government outlined that the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy would be extended.