Geoff Hardy

Partner

Commercial

DDI:+64 9 379 0700

MOB:+64 29 379 0700

Email:geoff@martellimckegg.co.nz

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Capabilities

Commercial contracts and business
Leaky building claims
Property building and construction disputes

Commercial Law

Geoff's knowledge of commercial law is highly regarded in both legal and business circles. He has presented several seminar papers to the Law Society on company insolvency, company constitutions, shareholders agreements, partnerships and construction law.

Geoff's clients range from large Trans-Tasman companies, to government and local government sector, to non-profit organisations and private individuals. Geoff's experience in this area extends to:

  • Technology & intellectual property
  • Partnerships & joint ventures
  • Banking, finance & securities law, debt recovery
  • Bankruptcy, liquidation, receivership & insolvency
  • Trade & consumer law, competition law
  • Agencies, distributorships, franchises & licences
  • Employment law, occupational health & safety
  • Non-profit organisations & charities
  • Financial planning & trusts

With an impressive forty-plus years at the forefront of law, Geoff can confidently handle any commercial law matter, no matter how complex. His greatest asset is the judgment he has gained over his extensive career - he invariably knows what the answer is, and what his clients' chances of success are.

Construction Law

Geoff is one of New Zealand's foremost authorities on Construction Law. He has advised the Government, architects and building practitioners on construction, weathertightness issues and particularly how to handle the leaky buildings crisis.

Geoff has put his considerable knowledge to good use. He is helping to reform the construction industry from within through his many consultant and directorship roles. Geoff has served as Director of the Certified Builders Association of NZ Inc. and as a Consultant to the Department of Building & Housing on joint and several liability in the construction sector.

Geoff's construction law experience includes:

  • Construction contracts & disputes, leaky homes
  • Commercial property & real estate
  • Energy & natural resources
  • Resource management & environmental law

Geoff has been included in the 2018 and 2020 Doyle's Guide as a leading construction, projects and infrastructure lawyer.

Recent articles

Does your subcontract expose you to high risk?

If you sign a building contract, can you change your mind and cancel it?

Businesses can still use the Consumer Guarantees Act

Does the Consumer Guarantees Act apply to building projects?

What building contract should you use?

Treat your building contract like a live hand grenade

Construction Contracts Act may hold solutions for builders' slow paying clients

Examples of Work

  • Director, NZ Certified Builders Association Inc. ("NZCB") 2005-2014.
  • Legal adviser to NZCB and to several hundred of its approximately 2,500 builder members nationwide.
  • Author of the latest versions of the NZCB suite of building contracts.
  • Advised & represented numerous parties in connection with leaky building claims and summary judgment proceedings before the District Court, High Court and Weathertight Homes Tribunal.
  • Author & presenter of various submissions to Government Select Committees on the Building Act, Construction Contracts Act and Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act for BIF and NZCB.
  • Member of the Advisory Group to the Department of Building & Housing on the joint & several liability project, and the review of the Construction Contracts Act 2002.
  • Convenor of the Continuing Professional Development Committee of the Auckland District Law Society ("ADSL") and organiser and/or presenter of ADLS seminars or webinars on building-related topics every year since 2011.
  • Member of the Society of Construction Law of New Zealand and featured speaker at the Society's monthly meetings in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in 2014.
  • Expert adviser to the Building Practitioners Board in connection with its disciplinary proceedings against licensed builders, and frequent defender of licensed builders in proceedings before the Board.
  • Chairman of the Ministry of Building, Employment & Innovation's consultative workshop on security for retentions in the building sector in 2014.
  • Presenter of a paper on building law reforms to the New Zealand Registered Architects Board's assessor training workshop in 2014.
Publications

Geoff has published two textbooks on OSH law and has had articles on legal topics published in over 150 editions of magazines and trade journals.

  • Unfriendly Takeover Bids and the Role of the Target Company Directors, LLM thesis, 1981, Toronto
  • Various conference papers and media articles on commercial law, joint ventures & energy law 1985-94
  • A Guide to the Case Law on the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, Profile Books, Auckland, 1998
  • How to Survive the Health & Safety Legislation: A Practical Guide to the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, Profile Books, Auckland, 1998
  • Are Constraints on Coastal Subdivision in New Zealand a Myth or a Reality?, research paper for COP in Resource Management Law, 2001
  • Copyright Ownership in the context of Commercial Exploitation of Software, research paper for COP in Intellectual Property Law, 2002
  • Continuous monthly magazine articles on business law topics from 2000-present
  • Regular feature writer in NZCB and ITM trade magazines, ADLS's Law News, Joiners Magazine, various other industry publications, and (previously) the NZ Hardware Journal.
Memberships

Geoff has served as Director of the Auckland District Law Society since 2006.

He has been a member of the Auckland District Law Society's Continuing Legal Education Committee continuously since 1999. As the principal commercial lawyer on that Committee throughout that time, he has taken an active role in planning, chairing and/or presenting educational seminars with a commercial focus to other lawyers.

He has been admitted to the Bar in both New Zealand and Australia: High Court of New Zealand (1977); Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia (1982); Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia (1983).