It might seem unusual to give a legal practice overview of Auckland CBD. However, as recruiters, we tend to find that Auckland “city” falls under five main regions:
- South Auckland: Mid-tier and General Practice
- North Shore: General Practice and Mid-Tier
- East Auckland – General Practice
- West Auckland – General Practice
Auckland CBD has a strong mix of firms, not just the Top Tiers and Large firms. You will find specialist boutiques in the commercial, property, financial service, IP, TMT and employment sectors. Most of these employ less than 12 people, are headed up by seasoned experts normally out of the Top Tiers and have built strong client bases. Also, you can find a “dusting” of General Practice firms that tend to have a client base of HNWIs, commercial and property. They still employ under 15 people but have strong, secure revenue and quality work. In essence, they are a genuine General Practice that works with companies, property and private clients.
Legal practice overview
General Practice Firm CBD
One, in particular, is a four Partner firm made up of highly experienced Solicitors who have expertise in the Property space. Two of the Partners broke away from a Top Tier some 14 years ago and took their client bases with them.
From here, the firm has continued to grow and has a team of four lawyers and two highly experienced support staff. The client base is predominantly developers, property businesses, particularly in retail leasing, shopping centre management and national leasing chains.
Many of these investors require their private affairs to be managed by the team as they are used to a very high level of service and standard.
The clients are experienced and have been through the conveyancing process before, so they need people who can adhere to their needs. Most clients will also have a pre-existing relationship with one of the Partners, so your work will be overseen by one of them and often reviewed.
The IT system used is Infinity. The hours can be a little flexible depending on the person and their requirements. But it is a minimum of four days per week and ideally full time. The team has morning tea together on a Friday, supports each other, and one of the Partners makes a birthday cake for all of her staff each year!
Private Client Firm – CBD
With a strong client portfolio of HNWIs due to generational referral, this firm manages its clients’ legal affairs. Work tends to focus on EPOA, Wills, Estates, smaller property matters, Trust management and general advisory where necessary. In a small team of five, the Principal is committed to training and developing staff and takes a hands-on approach. The Partner is also ambitious, the firm is growing at a consistent rate. For anyone joining, it means promotion prospects and an energetic and positive work environment.
Employment Firm – CBD
This is a brand-new firm, launching in April 2021 by two highly respected Partners in the NZ Employment Law network. Their ambition is to build a firm where people enjoy coming to work. Bringing ideas and can learn and develop under their guidance. They both have Top Tier work that they will need support on. This will include managing Executive level employees with a grievance, disciplinary and dispute issues. Also advisory work in terms of restructuring, terms and conditions and redundancy, and issues such as COVID. The two female Partners have high ambitions, including increasing their team to eight within 12 months. This is due to the amount of work they are confident of winning from the NZ market.
General Practice Solicitor – 60% of the role will be conveyancing mainly for investors, and 40% of the work will be Trust, Estates, and Wills. Learn more or apply
Commercial Solicitor – Working with a client base of diverse NZ-owned SME’s on day-to-day transactions and advisory work. Learn more or apply
Commercial Property Solicitor – Working on deals between $10m and $100m in value, complex lease and valuation, and purchase. Learn more or apply
Employment Solicitor – 80% employer-facing client base – advisory and non-litigious role. Learn more or apply
Our Legal Recruitment Team consists of four legal recruiters based both in NZ and the UK and our expertise is recruiting talent for New Zealand.
For more information about us and also to review our latest news on the legal jobs market. Contact Lisa Gray on lgray@tylerwren.co.nz or call 09 973 5470.