Workplace investigations can be among the most challenging and sensitive aspects of managing a business and employing staff. These processes can be stressful and disruptive,...
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At Ford Sumner, we are a tight-knit, responsive team that combines smart lawyering with hard-earned knowledge of key industries like aviation, construction, and transport that are vital to New Zealand’s success.
From corporate law and governance, to property and employment law, to dispute resolution, we support our clients with clear, pragmatic legal advice.
Many of our clients have been with us since we first opened our doors 20 years ago. As their trusted advisers, we help clients protect themselves against legal and regulatory risks, bringing a genuine understanding of their industry and a strategic eye that supports their business goals.
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At Ford Sumner, we love what we do: bringing expertise, energy, and always our best game to support businesses in critical New Zealand industries with the legal support they need to help them achieve their goals.
Our business law expertise spans corporate and commercial law, insolvency and turnaround, dispute resolution and mediation, regulatory compliance and investigations, employment law, property, and construction law.
We also provide practical, empathetic legal advice on family-law issues and help other individual clients structure their personal and financial affairs through, for example, wills and powers or attorney.
Whether you are responding to an immediate business or regulatory challenge, or you are looking for more strategic legal advice to help you achieve your business goals, Ford Sumner offers the expertise, clarity, and support you need.
Our tight-knit, experienced team will work collaboratively with you and your organisation, providing you with pragmatic, responsive legal advice.
Family law
With Ford Sumner you will get empathetic family lawyers you can talk to. We provide you with expert, practical advice and representation on relationship property issues, care of children arrangements, and other family-related issues.
We understand the personal stresses involved whenever families and the law intersect. One of our experienced team will work closely with you to find the best legal strategy in your case.
Your personal and financial affairs
We also help clients structure their personal and financial affairs, including trusts, wills, estate planning, and asset protection. We’ll help you secure your interests now and into the future.
Ford Sumner has particular expertise in the aviation, transport, construction, and government sectors, as well as experience across a range of other industries.
We support clients in those sectors with clear, pragmatic legal advice and the full range of business-law services – from corporate law and governance, to property and employment law, to dispute resolution.
Ford Sumner are trusted advisers to 20 New Zealand airports, some of them servicing small communities, others fast-growing cities. We provide them and our other aviation clients with the full circle of legal support – from regulatory compliance, to corporate governance and finance, to employment law and dispute resolution.
Whether you need guidance on complex new CAA requirements, or you want a carefully crafted lease, Ford Sumner are the specialist aviation lawyers you need. We are experienced and responsive, and we always have a strategic eye on your business goals.
As an AoG panel member, Ford Sumner provides government agencies with smart, cost-effective legal counsel. We untangle procurement rules for you, draft watertight contracts, manage your employment and privacy risks, and defend your decisions against challenges.
We have a deep understanding of not only the public-law frameworks that govern our public sector but also the commercial realities agencies have to grapple with. Our tight-knit, responsive team will help your agency achieve better results for New Zealanders, while ensuring you’re fully accountable as a government organisation.
We provide developers, builders, contractors and other construction clients with clear, practical advice on contracts, legal and regulatory risks, health and safety issues, and disputes. We understand your industry, and we will support you and your business goals with clear, practical legal advice, so you can focus on the job at hand.
Whether we are drafting an NZS agreement, helping you navigate a payment claim, or resolving a disagreement through adjudication or negotiation, we will supply the pragmatic support you need to keep your project moving.
Through our Tradie Law website, we also offer ready-made templates and compliance checks for quick, day-to-day support.
Our seasoned property lawyers bring hard-earned experience to every deal. We guide owners, investors, and developers on purchases, finance, leases, and subdivisions. We also help individual clients secure their assets through trusts, wills, and enduring powers of attorney.
You might be managing a complex property portfolio or you might be buying your first home – whatever your legal needs, we provide the expertise and support you need so you can move ahead with confidence and a clear direction.
We advise clients across a wide range of industries and sectors – from technology and energy, to manufacturing and agribusiness, to healthcare and professional services. We bring legal expertise in contracts, governance, employment, and dispute resolution, along with an astute sense of commercial realities.
Our team will quickly understand your operational context and business goals, and translate complicated regulatory requirements into a clear compliance strategy for your organisation. We will clear the legal landmines for you and provide the pragmatic advice you need to keep your organisation moving and succeeding.
Precision fuels aviation—and our advice. Ford Sumner Lawyers guides airlines, airports and service providers nationwide, blending deep sector insight with expertise in regulation, governance, finance and employment. Trusted by 12 NZ airports, we anticipate risk, ensure Civil Aviation Authority compliance and craft robust contracts from leases to incident response. One agile team, keeping your operation airborne with confidence.
As AoG panel members, we provide agencies fast access to sharp, cost-effective counsel. We untangle procurement rules, draft watertight contracts, manage employment and privacy risks, and defend decisions when challenged. With deep knowledge of public-law frameworks and commercial realities, our agile team safeguards accountability so you can deliver better outcomes.
Our team provides clear, practical advice on contracts, risk, health-and-safety, and disputes, so builders, contractors and developers can focus on the job at hand. Whether drafting NZS agreements, navigating payment claims or resolving disagreements through adjudication or negotiation, we supply the insights that keep projects moving. Through Tradie Law, we also offer ready-made templates and compliance checks for swift, day-to-day support.
We advise a wide range of sectors—from technology, energy and manufacturing to healthcare, agribusiness and professional services. Whatever the industry, we combine commercial insight with deep legal expertise in contracts, governance, employment and dispute resolution. Our team learns your operational realities quickly, translates complex regulations into clear actions, and delivers timely, pragmatic advice that keeps your organisation moving.
Being good at relationships is something businesses like to lay claim to, but not all of them deliver on it.
The proof is your clients coming back to you year after year. At Ford Sumner, many of our clients have been with us since we first opened our doors two decades ago – they trust us to understand their specific needs and protect their interests.
We are not a big firm, but we deliver. When you work with us you will get to know our people very well, as we will you. We will work closely with you and you will find us to be open and responsive – lawyers you can connect with and talk to. We will be proactive about protecting your interests, bringing a positive, can-do attitude to every challenge and priding ourselves on delivering our very best, every time.
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Private Client
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At Ford Sumner, we are a committed part of New Zealand’s business sector and local communities. We keep a watchful eye for relevant legislative and regulatory changes, and we regularly write and share updates on what these changes will mean in practice for our clients.
So check in regularly with this part of our website, and subscribe to our newsletters.
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