A Fresh Approach to providing legal advice
Tom Evatt & Co believe in providing their clients with excellent advice and service in a fresh, affordable and innovative way.
Our team are experienced, commercially minded and eager to deliver outstanding support to our clients whatever their needs may be.
Tom Evatt & Co are experienced in providing legal advice to businesses, individuals, companies and farmers.
If for any reason, we can’t assist with a client’s needs then we will find someone who can and work with them to ensure client’s needs are satisfied.
Tom Evatt established Tom Evatt & Co in 2018 with client needs first and foremost in a fast paced and busy environment. We utilise technology to ensure that we are accessible when needed without expensive overheads and large office premises.
Our low overheads and commitment to utilising technology to reduce legal fees allow us to provide affordable legal services without compromising advice and service.
WHAT DO WE DO?
Our core services
At Tom Evatt & Co we work with individuals, business owners, farmers, and property developers and investors advising on a broad range of legal issues and projects in the areas of commerce, agriculture and property law. We also act for clients on specific projects ranging from property development to irrigation to compensation claims.
Contact us with your enquiry and we will always either give our advice or give you the details of who to contact if we can’t assist you.
COMMERCIAL / business
> Company Incorporation
> Constitutions and shareholder’s agreements
> Disputes
> Business sales and acquisitions
> Business start ups
> Financing
> Business and shares sales and acquisitions
> Commercial agreements
> Terms of trade
> Franchising
AGRICULTURAL
> Farm sales, purchases and leases
> Stock sales and leasing arrangements
> Financing
> Irrigation
> Water rights
> Easements
> Fencing and boundary disputes
> Farm ownership structures
> Resource Management
PROPERTY
> Commercial: sales and purchases, leases, contracts and licences, subdivisions and development issues
> Residential: conveyancing, insurance issues, compensation claims, subdivisions, boundary adjustments
> Rural: sales and purchases, lifestyle blocks, easements, encumbrances
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
> Consenting
> Consultation
> Hearings
> Submissions
> Enforcement related issues
TRUSTS
> Trust formation and administration
PROJECTS
> Projects incorporating any number of legal and commercial issues where timely integrated advice is required across a broad range of issues
employment / health & Safety
> HR and employment advice and support
> Employment contracts, HR policies and advice on implementation and process
> Disciplinary issues, restructuring and redundancy
> Disputes, personal grievances and mediations
> Health and safety issues, policies, procedures and WorkSafe investigations
relationship property
> Contracting out agreements
> Advice on complex relationship property disputes including company and trust structures
> Separation agreements
construction
> Tender documentation and processes
> Contracts – NZS suite, residential forms of contract
> Risk allocation, sharing and associated liability
> Insurance
>Subcontractor contracts and terms of trade
>Securities, including retentions
>Delay and variation claims
>Payment claims
>EQC On-sold Over-cap assistance and advice
Tom Evatt & Co is a personable firm of lawyers who are cost effective, pragmatic and get results. Tom made a complex issue easy to understand and explained the implications of actions succinctly and accurately. From the first meeting to the end result, the process was seamless. I'd highly recommend getting in touch with Tom Evatt and his team.
- Darren Wright MNZM
OUR TEAM
TOM EVATT
tom.evatt@tomevatt.co.nz
029 200 8819
Tom has experience dealing with a wide range of commercial and resource management issues.
He acts for individuals, property owners, business owners and farmers across a wide range of issues. Tom enjoys complex projects that demand strategically savvy and collaborative solutions, and the longstanding relationships that typically go hand in hand with these types of projects.
Tom’s breadth of knowledge and technical expertise see him representing clients across a broad range of subjects including dispute resolution, commercial, property matters, and the management of their personal assets and wealth protection.
victoria hudson-CRAIG
victoria.hudson-craig@tomevatt.co.nz
021 585 254
Victoria qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales in 2004 and specialised in property law in the UK until moving to New Zealand in 2015. She qualified as a Barrister & Solicitor in New Zealand in 2022.
Victoria has experience acting for a range of clients both in the agri and urban environments including private clients, trusts, organisations and companies. Victoria works closely with Tom to understand your requirements and provide legal support.
Victoria is primarily focused on Conveyancing, Farm sales and purchases, Small Business sales and purchases, company formation, Wills, Powers of Attorney and providing legal support to all areas of our expertise.
JO TURNBULL
joanna.turnbull@tomevatt.co.nz
021 363 506
Jo specialises in all aspects of personal and rural law.
Having grown up on a North Canterbury farm and worked on both dairy and sheep farms, Jo knows first-hand the complexities of farming operations. She understands the sophisticated legal expectations of the modern farmer to enable effective business decisions.
She combines her practical knowledge with her legal expertise to advise clients on purchasing, selling and leasing farms and stock, as well as asset protection, trust and ownership structures, employment agreements, succession planning and related commercial matters.
Jo brings a friendly and accessible manner to Tom Evatt's rural clients and is dedicated to making the legal process as easy as possible.
MadelEine Henderson
027 457 0247
Madeleine specialises in employment law, relationship property, and dispute resolution.
Madeleine has over 8 years’ experience in civil litigation at both District and High Court level. Madeleine’s expertise includes personal and corporate insolvency litigation and enforcement; all aspects of employment law including advising on restructures, advising on disciplinary matters and resolving complex employment disputes; and assisting clients resolve civil and/or commercial disputes arising in tort, contract or property matters: and complex relationship property matters including company and trust disputes.
Madeleine’s love of the law is coupled with an enthusiastic, conscientious and dedicated approach to her clients. Madeleine has a unique ability not only to offer extremely sound legal advice, but to approach matters in a pragmatic and commercially strategic way. Coupled with Madeleine’s empathetic nature, this sets Madeleine apart from most lawyers and makes her best placed to support and assist her clients through often challenging times. Madeleine has an excellent reputation with her clients and proven track record for resolving complex disputes.
Madeleine is a director of Coleridge Law and contracts to Tom Evatt & Co.
prue miller
prue.miller@tomevatt.co.nz
021 023 80405
Prue has over 14 years of experience in general property and commercial law, with particular expertise in construction law.
She has previously acted for individuals, businesses, charities, local authorities, and government departments. Prue can assist clients with property and business sale / purchases, construction contracts and disputes, general commercial agreements, and retirement village disputes.
Prue’s practical and pragmatic approach means her legal advice focuses on options available, identification and management of the risks, and her client’s desired outcomes.
As chairperson of the Governors Bay Jetty Restoration Trust for the past 18 months, Prue has been heavily involved in the tender and subsequent construction of the well publicised Governors Bay Jetty.
Outside of the office and jetty duties, Prue is married with two young boys and enjoys skiing and spending time with her family and friends.
Miria Scott-Toft
miria.scott-toft@tomevatt.co.nz
021 468 528
Miria joined Tom Evatt & Co at the beginning of 2021 after a long stint at another Christchurch firm. Miria began her legal career in 2014 while she was completing her law degree at the University of Canterbury. She graduated in 2015 and worked in general practice advising clients in the areas of property, trusts, Wills & Enduring Powers of Attorney. Miria works closely with Joanna Turnbull, advising clients on all general practice matters including trusts, relationship property, deceased estates and property subdivision. Miria has two young daughters and particularly enjoys helping other families with their legal needs, including first home buyers who need guiding through the process of purchasing and advising on how to future proof legal matters early on.
Miria is flexible with client appointments and can accommodate out of office & home appointments.
Outside of work, Miria sits on the Executive of the St Andrews College Old Collegians Association and was a previous Executive member of the University of Canterbury Students Association.