October 2012

A recent decision of the Supreme Court has confirmed that the duty of care owed by local bodies to building owners when inspecting residential buildings extends to mixed residential/commercial buildings. The Supreme Court case in Byron does not amount to a finding of negligence against the Auckland Council.  However, the way is now open for building owners to claim and seek to prove negligence against Councils in 'leaky building' cases. The Supreme Court case The case related to Spencer on Byron, a high rise building on Auckland's North Shore containing hotel units and six penthouse apartments. Many owners of the hotel and penthouse units, along...

We are often asked to advise a Board or majority shareholder on arrangements to sponsor valued employees into acquiring a shareholding in a company.  The specific reasons for employee shareholding arrangements can include succession planning, a reward for loyalty and the contribution of the employee to development of the business or as an alternative to more traditional forms of bonus remuneration. The plan is generally to incentivise the employee to help maximise company profitability and receive a potential bonus by dividend and potential capital growth for the shares held.  However, if not structured correctly, the intended golden handcuff can end up...