Kāpiti Law provides friendly and down to earth legal advice for people about property, business and estate planning. This includes house sales and purchases, wills, business sales and purchases, relationship property, leasing property, employment and any other legal advice.
Qualifications / Professional Memberships / Positions Held
- BA in History, Victoria University of Wellington (1993)
- LL.B Victoria University of Wellington (1996)
- Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand (1997)
- Member of Property Law Section New Zealand Law Society
- Member of New Zealand Law Society and Wellington Branch Law Society
- Partner in the firm of Kapiti Law (2015)
- Member Kāpiti Chamber of Commerce
Special Expertise
Graham has a wide range of experience gained over 19 years as a lawyer. He has spent the last nine years as a general practitioner in Kāpiti helping people with property, business, commercial and personal transactions. This includes;
- buying and selling residential and commercial property
- setting up, buying or selling businesses
- preparing wills, trusts and estate planning
- advising on commercial and company matters
- employment law advice to both Employers and Employees
Graham’s particular specialty is employment law which he has practised for 19 years. Graham has previously been a litigation lawyer and an in-house lawyer for a major bank.
Client benefits
Graham’s focus is on providing personal and professional service and exceeding people’s expectations of lawyers. Graham’s experience acting for a bank has given him a strategic approach to legal advice which is not just about explaining the law but actually helping people get where they want to go with the least risk. Graham’s approach is very practical and down to earth and clients often comment on his relaxed and friendly manner.
Background
Graham spent some of his childhood summer holidays at Raumati Beach. Now he lives at Raumati Beach and considers himself lucky every day he wakes up and sees Kāpiti Island.
Graham grew up in the northern suburbs of Wellington as the youngest in a family of six children. When Graham was studying at Victoria University he worked part-time as a taxi driver to pay his way through university. This gave him some great life experience and taught him the value of customer service.
Graham’s first job as a lawyer was as a criminal, family and civil court lawyer in a specialist litigation firm. This involved appearing in court in his first week of work and then regular appearances for the next five years in a range of courts and tribunals. The highlight was appearing as lead counsel in the Court of Appeal.
Graham then accepted a position as an in-house lawyer for a major bank. This was initially to manage the bank’s court cases but evolved into providing advice to the bank on all aspects of its business including marketing, product development, debt recovery and contracts. Graham was eventually selected to go to Melbourne and provide advice at the bank’s head office on commercial contracts.
Graham has only recently joined Kāpiti Law as a partner to head up the new Paraparaumu Office.
Interests
Graham has three young boys who take up most of his time and give him an excuse for why his golf is so bad. He does enjoy golf and playing or watching almost every other sport. These days his playing is limited to the occasional run and trying to get his boys away from the TV to kick a ball in the back yard.
Graham is an avid reader of novels and watcher of movies, when time allows. He loves fine wine but has almost no knowledge about it except how to drink it.
