News & thinking

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Should Fair Trading Act penalties be increased?

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Last week, the chair of the Commerce Commission (Commission), Dr John Small, told a select committee during its annual review process that the potential penalties enforceable under the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) are weak and a frustration for…

Employment Court awards record $1.8m in damages for school counsellors’ mental harm

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The Employment Court Cronin-Lampe v The Board of Trustees of Melville High School has recently awarded almost $1.8m in damages, being the highest award of damages in the employment jurisdiction since 1992. Mr and Mrs Cronin-Lampe were employed…

Two Anthony Harper lawyers named as 2024 NZ Lawyer Rising Stars

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Anthony Harper is delighted to announce the inclusion of Tamara Webster and Alice von Batenburg as 2024 NZ Lawyer Rising Stars, an annual list of the legal profession’s most promising young talent. Tamara Webster is a Senior Associate at…

Is 2024 going to be “the insolvency year”?

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Most professionals in the insolvency world would agree that the effects of Covid have been slow to make an impact in our area. Indeed, during the "Covid years" of mid-2020 to -late 2022, New Zealand experienced very low insolvency numbers.…

Anthony Harper Summer Theatre delights in Ōtautahi

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On Wednesday 17 January 2024, Anthony Harper transported over 400 clients and their families to ancient Greece during an exclusive performance of The Odyssey, this year's Anthony Harper Summer Theatre production. Staged by local theatre company…

Anthony Harper recommended as a leading New Zealand law firm

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Anthony Harper continues to be recommended as a leading law firm in New Zealand, recognised in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific Guide 2024 for its expertise and knowledge across 10 practice areas. The firm is proud to be ranked in the following…

Partner and three special counsel promotions at Anthony Harper

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Law firm Anthony Harper has announced the promotion of Joey James to partner, and Jordan Wright, Olivia Welsh and Sarah Anderson to special counsel. Managing Partner, Malcolm Hurley says: "We are proud to recognise 10 talented lawyers who…

New requirements for incorporated societies now live

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The new Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (Act) and its Regulations came into force on 5 October 2023. This introduces significant changes to the law for incorporated societies, meaning that: Existing incorporated societies are now able…

Managing the fallout from cyberattacks and major business incidents

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The Australian Federal Court has released a decision of considerable interest to businesses investigating incidents and potential wrongdoing. Optus has lost its bid to keep secret the cause of a cyberattack in 2022, which resulted in exposure…

New Retirement Villages partner at Anthony Harper

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Law firm Anthony Harper has announced the promotion of Rose Clements to the partnership. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Rose specialises in retirement village and aged care law, acting for operators and statutory supervisors. With over 17 years'…

New Ōtautahi partner at Anthony Harper

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Law firm Anthony Harper has announced the promotion of Chloe Jolliffe to the partnership. Chloe is an insolvency law specialist with over 17 years' experience. Her expertise focuses on the repossession of goods and recovery of real property,…

What employers can expect under a National-led government

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With the official results for this year's election due tomorrow, New Zealanders have voted for change with a National-led government. While employment law policies have not been a significant feature of National's campaign, we can expect some…

What a new Government means for financial services

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"Cutting financial red tape and unlocking the enormous potential of KiwiSaver is part of National’s broader plan to strengthen the economy so we can reduce the cost of living, lift incomes for all and deliver the public services New Zealanders…

Mainzeal – Supreme Court recognises two “new” causes of action for creditors

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The Supreme Court recently released its decision in relation to the long-running directors' duty case, Yan v Mainzeal Property and Construction Limited (in liquidation) [2023] NZSC 113 (Mainzeal). In the wake of the release, there have been…

Four key points from the Employment Court’s latest decision against Customs

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On 30 June 2023, Chief Judge Inglis of the Employment Court determined that the New Zealand Customs Service (Customs) did not act as a fair and reasonable employer in terminating the employment of a worker (referred to as GF). Inglis said…
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Legal risks associated with the use of AI

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In the span of a few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has showcased its potential to revolutionise the way we live, work, and interact. However, for many of us, the concept of AI and what it holds for the future remains a grey area. In…
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AI, privacy and confidentiality

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Many organisations have raised concerns regarding the relationship between AI (particularly public AI), and personal and/or confidential data. Anyone using public AI, such ChatGPT, could potentially breach privacy and/or confidentiality…
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Who owns the copyright for AI-generated content?

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With more companies and users creating content and images using generative AI (GAI), it is unclear however who owns the resulting copyright in these works. Under the Copyright Act 1994 (the Act), computer-generated content (which includes…
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Bias and reliability issues with AI-generated content

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The ability of AI to process complex queries and deliver an articulate response in a matter of seconds can lead to users treating the output as fact. The reality, however, is that AI delivers information and makes decisions based off the…
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Developing a workplace policy for AI use

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The AI landscape continues to evolve with organisations embracing and incorporating this cutting-edge technology into their operations. While AI's potential to provide significant benefits, including increased efficiency and cost savings,…
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Gloriavale – A cautionary tale

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Chief Judge Inglis has made it clear for the second time that "the tail will not wag the dog" when it comes to the employment status of former Gloriavale residents. Last week, she held that six former female Gloriavale residents were employees…

Establishing Customer Data Rights – Have your say on the Customer and Product Data Bill

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MBIE has opened consultation on the exposure draft of the highly anticipated Customer and Product Data Bill. The Bill establishes what has been referred to as a 'Consumer Data Right' (CDR). In practical terms the CDR aims to bolster the rights…

Uber allowed to appeal decision on driver employment status

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The issue of whether gig workers are employees continues to work its way through our Courts. On 8 June 2023, the Court of Appeal granted Uber the right to appeal the Employment Court's landmark case of E Tu inc v Rasier Operations BV determined…

Avoiding and dealing with sharemilking disputes

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The end of the dairy season is here, so many sharemilking arrangements are coming to a close or are set to be renewed. For those of you who have entered Federated Farmers Contract Milking Agreements (Agreement), here are some points you should…
The timeframe for employees to raise a personal grievance regarding sexual harassment is poised to change from 90 days to 12 months

How to prepare for the new sexual harassment law change

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Employers are likely to need to update their employment agreements next month (or shortly afterwards) to comply with changes regarding the timeframes for employees to raise personal grievance claims. The Employment Relations (Extended Time…

Business Payment Practices Bill introduced to Parliament

A 2018 survey commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) showed 87% of businesses surveyed have experienced cash flow issues after receiving late payments, or receiving requests for deferred payment. MBIE…

Fair Pay Agreements Act will commence on 1 December 2022

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Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) have long been on the government’s workplace agenda as part of their strategy to protect vulnerable employees. The FPA Bill passed through Parliament last week and the new legislation will be effective from 1 December…

Uber drivers held to be employees

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In a landmark decision issued yesterday, the Employment Court has held that four Uber drivers were employees, not independent contractors. This decision highlights the growing risk that technology platforms and companies using gig workers…
Finance Law Anthony Harper

On the home straight … long awaited Conduct of Financial Institutions SOP released

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The Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Bill took a major (and belated) step forward late last week with the release of the long awaited supplementary order paper (SOP) to amend the Bill. This progress comes almost two years…

Combatting modern slavery – proposed new duties across the supply chain

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It is difficult to believe that slavery still exists in today's society, but the unfortunate reality is, it does. Modern slavery and worker exploitation remains in both the domestic and international supply chains and whilst our current laws…

Returning employees to the workplace

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Vaccination rates are high and we have begun to contemplate herd immunity whilst New Zealand works our way towards the conclusion of the current Omicron outbreak. Employers may now be looking to return their employees to the workplace in lieu…

The End of the Mandate…

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After the decision of Yardly[1], IOX[2] and the wide spread community transmission of Covid-19, we waited with baited breath to see what changes the Government would make to the Covid-19 Protection Framework and the government vaccine mandates…

COVID-19 Changes announced

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What are the changes and what do these mean for your business? This morning (23 March 2022) the New Zealand Government announced significant amendment to vaccination mandates, the COVID-19 Protection Framework and 'My Vaccine Pass' requirements. Following…

The Government takes on the income protection insurance market

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Last week, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced the Government's proposal for a universal income insurance scheme. The "social insurance" would support New Zealanders who lose their job through no fault of their own, or need to stop…
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Southern Response decision unlocks $300m more

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Southern Response’s decision to accept the Court of Appeal's findings in the Dodds’ case allows at least 3,000 Christchurch policyholders who settled their claims before 1 October 2014 to receive compensation of $100,000 each, on average,…
Spotlight on Privacy

Spotlight on issues regarding Privacy & Cross Border Transactions and Commerce

The Privacy Act 2020 introduces a new Information Privacy Principle (IPP 12) which imposes controls on the disclosure of personal information to overseas entities and people.   The intent of IIP 12 is broadly to ensure that agencies sending…

Top tips for SMEs implementing an e-commerce solution

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E-commerce is a very well established means of doing business (Amazon being founded back in 1994 and now having a market cap of over $1 trillion being testament to this!). Yet today, in the Covid-19 world, e-commerce has assumed an even more…

Property transactions in a time of challenge

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Our property team has been working through the national state of emergency and lockdown. Below are some questions we have been fielding from our clients and we hope our answers will assist those in a limbo. We assume that the standard form…

UPDATED: The definition of essential goods and the law of unintended consequences…

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Update as at 18 April:   In the original version of this article (below), we highlighted some potential issues with the Government restrictions on freight movements.  The Ministry of Transport has now updated its rules and we have…

What are my legal rights if my cargo can’t get to its destination?

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A shipper typically has very few rights, while a forwarder and carrier has a number of options, in these circumstances.   The first point to bear in mind is that, unless a freight forwarder has accepted liability as principal (by…

Tax relief measures for COVID-19

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The Government has introduced various initial tax concessions to help with meeting your tax obligations.    The terms of the relief are not yet passed into legislation However some of the relief measures introduced in the Bill,…

Immigration Alert: Changes to Accredited Employer Scheme

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Immigration New Zealand has announced significant changes to the accredited employer scheme. What is the accredited employer scheme? Why is it helpful? Accredited employer status makes it much easier for an employer to recruit migrant…

Reforms to the RMA – mere tinkering or complete overhaul?

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Our planning system is not functioning effectively. This statement could be attributed to everyone interested in, or affected by, the development of our natural and physical resources. On one side, environmentalists claim that the system…

Back on the table – New Incorporated Societies Act to be introduced in late 2019

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On 26 June, MBIE announced that legislation to update the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 (Act) is expected to be introduced to Parliament later this year. Cabinet has approved changes to the Draft Bill following feedback received since it was…

The ‘Clean Slate’ Act – What you need to know

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Like many millennials, the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 (Act) remains widely misunderstood. It seems that people either grossly exaggerate its power and scope, or reduce its operation to a twink pen for drink driving convictions. Misconceptions…

How the Government plans to leverage its $41 Billion spend

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The New Zealand Government spends approximately $41 billion each year buying goods and services from third-party suppliers and providers. Cabinet agreed last year to more explicitly leverage those contracts to achieve broader social, economic…

Bullies beware: Unfair commercial practices to be banned

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Many New Zealand businesses and consumers regularly confront what they see as unfair commercial practices. The Government believes that these practices may undermine its attempts to build a more productive, sustainable and inclusive economy. Recently,…

The Tax Working Group Report – What could this mean for you?

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Recently, the Tax Working Group (the Group) released its final report, setting out its recommendations and the design of the proposed broad taxation on capital gains (TCG) – aimed at addressing the structure, fairness and balance of our tax…

What happens when a visa is declined?

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Immigration applications are complex. There are multiple requirements to be met, some of which can seem contradictory.  Also, of course, the immigration authorities are as human as the rest of us.  Therefore, what can a migrant do, if he…

2018: Looking back to look forward

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It's been a busy year for our regulators in the transport and supply chain sector. In this final issue of FTD for 2018, we look back at some of the year's highlights and take a peek at what's coming up. Transport funding and Government policy…

Thinking of moving to New Zealand?

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If you intend to move to New Zealand or have recently arrived, you need to be aware of legal issues that affect your ability to buy a home, and also your tax residence status which affects your tax liability in New Zealand, on foreign-sourced…

What the Trusts Bill could mean for you as a trustee?

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Trusts are very popular in New Zealand and are used in a variety of ways to protect property, family members and manage assets. Between 300,000 to 500,000 trusts are operational in New Zealand, and the proposed changes will impact many New Zealanders. Following…

What you need to know – employment and immigration law changes

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The Employment Relations Amendment Act gained Royal Assent on 5 December 2018 and amends the Employment Relations Act 2000. The Minister of Immigration also announced proposed substantial changes to the immigration system, on 18 December 2018. It…