Legal Services

The legal services Mark offers include: (subject to his workload and availability at any time)

  • Providing advice (legal opinions) on many different legal issues that arise in relation to:
    • Incorporated societies and charitable trusts,
    • Procedure at public and private meetings, and
    • Conflicts of interest,
  • Advising on alternative structures for existing and proposed incorporated societies and charitable trusts,
  • For incorporated societies and charitable trusts:
    • Advising on the drafting society constitutions (but I may refer clients to another lawyer who will draft a society constitution)
    • Drafting charitable trust deeds,
    • Drafting amendments to society constitutions and charitable trust deeds,
    • Drafting other related legal documents (such as policies, regulations and codes of conduct),
    • Advising on society and charitable trust amalgamations, and
    • Advising on other legal issues that arise,
  • Advising on conflicts of interest, complaints and grievances and other disciplinary issues relating to incorporated societies and charitable trusts,
  • Advising on and providing training about governance and meeting procedure,
  • Advising on issues relating to the amalgamation of incorporated societies and charitable trusts,
  • Providing experienced independent chairmanship for potentially “difficult” meetings, and
  • Mediation or arbitration of commercial and other disputes (but not matrimonial).

For specific advice about any of those issues, please contact Mark at mark@nfplaw.co.nz.

Where any such work requires compliance with the anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism legislation (primarily drafting constitutional documents for incorporated societies and charitable trusts), clients will need to engage a solicitor who can attend to those processes and instruct Mark and certify that the solicitor has complied with the anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism legislation in respect of that work.

Mark does not provide more general legal services such as the drafting of leases, sales and purchases, financing, liquor licensing, employment agreements or disputes. However, where required he is happy to collaborate with other lawyers about any work involving any of those issues.