Insights & Articles

It is a fairly familiar situation: an employee sustains an illness, or suffers an injury – probably due to no fault of their own or their employer - and is unable to work for a long period of time. Uncertainty may arise about when he or she can return to work, if ever. Repeated visits to a doctor or specialist, frustratingly for both the employee and the employer, fail to provide a definite prognosis about when the employee will be fit to return to work or, indeed, whether they will ever be able to do so. Meanwhile the employee may be receiving no income, or less than their full former salary or wage while receiving an ACC benefit. The employer is also left in the difficult and uncertain position of not being able to hire a permanent replacement employee but needing to reassign the absent employee's tasks to others, or make do with a potentially more expensive temporary employee.

One of the notable law reforms which was touted in Labour's election campaign has been unveiled in the Employment Relations Amendment Bill 2018 ("Bill") - the restriction on the use of the 90 day trial period.

In the third article in this series we focus briefly on the second limb of due diligence that should be considered when purchasing a vessel namely, legal due diligence.

Consider these five tips before entering into an agreement.

Buying a boat (or any major asset for that matter) without undertaking due diligence is exactly like reality shows where the participants either get married or go on blind dates with someone they have never met before. Sometimes things pan out and we are stoked for them, but more often than not we sit glued to the television waiting for the inevitable train-wreck to unfold.

In accordance with Section 131 of the Companies Act 1993 ("Act"), directors have a duty to act in good faith and in what they genuinely believe to be the best interests of the company. While it may be expected that directors should always behave in such a manner, and not place their personal interests ahead of the company's, various judgments have explored the extent of this duty and provided more information about the considerations director should take account of when exercising their powers.

Previously, under the Limitation Act 1950 ("the 1950 Act") claims to recover money owing under a deed or mortgage, had to be brought within twelve years of the money falling due for repayment. However under the Limitation Act 2010 ("the 2010 Act"), this has been reduced to a limitation period of six years.

The Court of Appeal has handed down a significant decision that will encourage confidence for victims of domestic violence, who apply to the Family Court for a protection order.

Often in commercial contracts, parties agree that they will use their "best endeavours", their "reasonable endeavours" or their "all reasonable endeavours" to perform certain actions or to achieve a certain outcome. But what do these terms mean in reality? While there are no set definitions and much is dependent on the particular circumstances, we are able to make some practical comments about the requirements of each of these terms so you have a clear idea of what you are agreeing to.

Ross Bedford (Partner) and Tony Coupe (Consultant) are Notaries Public and both are available, on appointment, to provide notary services.

The High Court, in Broadbent v The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development [2017] NZHC 1499 (a test case), has told the Ministry of Social Development that it is not correctly applying the means testing assessment for income when determining someone's eligibility for a residential-care subsidy.

Non-Executive or Passive Directors and Directors' Duties: The Courts Take no Excuses for a "Hands Off" Approach